Every day, Langley Memorial Hospital's cardiac nurses, technicians, physicians and surgeons treat patients with acute heart conditions that require constant monitoring and cardiovascular therapy.
This year, LMH gained three more monitored beds for the most critically ill cardiac patients, thanks to the guests, sponsors and donors who participated in October's Hot Havana Nights gala, the Foundation's biggest event of the year.
The addition of these monitor-equipped beds is already reducing emergency wait times and improving the experiences of patients requiring cardiac care.
"Thanks to the great generosity from Langley donors, we have seen some of our problems being alleviated and our team will look forward to continued support," says Dr. Daniel Negash, an Internal Medicine Specialist at LMH and Regional Medical Director, Access and Flow Community Hospitals with Fraser Health.
"Everyone in our team was very happy with the new expansion, and it's definitely helping to lower the number of patients needing cardiac monitoring sitting in the Emergency Department [waiting to be admitted to the Critical Care Unit]," he adds.
The addition of cardiac monitors also accelerates the need to train more staff to oversee the telemetry monitored patients around the clock.
Dr. Negash says he's proud of the expertise of the medical staff and nurses in particular, who've undergone the needed specialized training to oversee telemetry monitoring.
"The nurses need to be trained to be able to pick any rhythm abnormality, interpret them and take appropriate action," he says.
Previously, with only six cardiac telemetry beds in the Critical Care Unit (CCU), patients were being held in the Emergency Department for 1.2 days on average before they could be transferred into a cardiac bed.
Hospital data analysis forecasts the numbers to climb even higher, corresponding to Langley's predicted population growth in the next five years.
Four additional care spaces, or beds equipped with telemetry monitoring, are overseen by one telemetry-trained registered nurse for every 24 hours. The average length of stay in the CCU lasts more than four days, with an average of 1.2 days on strict telemetry monitoring.
Power of Philanthropy on the Patient Experience
Without enough telemetry-equipped beds, some cardiac patients had to wait in the Emergency Department before being transferred to a cardiac monitoring bed in the CCU. The longer that patients stay in Emergency, the worse the outcome, even after they are admitted, says Dr. Negash.
Over the past five years, Langley Memorial has seen a growing demand for telemetry monitoring. In 2016-17, 666 patients required telemetry monitoring, but by 2020-21, that number had grown to 793.
Hot Havana Nights gala guests led the first huge step to the hospital's long-term goals of expanding to meet the needs of an ever-growing community.
"Hot Havana Nights was a huge success thanks to our local philanthropists who came out in a big way to assist in the purchase of new cardiac telemetry monitors for our CCU," says Leanne Laurin, who, along with husband Mike, was the Presenting Sponsor for October's gala.
"Mike and I couldn't be more proud to be part of such an important event in our community."
