A review of Vitalité Health Network's transformation efforts

Vitalité Health Network, Thursday, October 24, 2024 – Vitalité Health Network presented its latest quarterly report to the community today. This document discusses some of the major transformation efforts undertaken by the organization.

Progress in setting up local family health teams

The deployment of local family health teams, created in response to the crucial need to improve access to primary health care, made headway during the summer.

This model is based on a multidisciplinary approach, where a complete team of health care professionals work together to ensure continuous patient management. By delegating certain tasks and using shared electronic medical records, these teams are able to respond faster to minor emergencies and ensure coordinated follow-up throughout the care pathway.

At present, 17 local family health teams are fully operational throughout the Network, and 11 others are in the formative stages. A total of 149 doctors out of a possible 220 have committed to the model.

The teams formed in recent months have added 17,225 patients without a family doctor to their patient base, bringing the total number of patients under their care to 103,002.

By September 2024, five teams were able to offer regular appointments within less than five days, while nine teams could respond to minor emergencies within 48 hours.

"The initial results obtained in communities where integrated and collaborative primary care teams have been set up are very encouraging," says Dr. France Desrosiers, President and CEO.

"They demonstrate the effectiveness of a team-based approach that makes coordinated, comprehensive and continuous care delivery possible. We've developed a model that works, and now we need to build on this momentum and move forward together to improve access to care in the community."

Recruitment: positive results

Vitalité Health Network is maintaining a positive recruitment balance, with 720 new hires between July 2023 and July 2024, compared with 501 departures.

The nursing sector, in particular, saw a considerable improvement, with 335 new hires compared to 154 departures.

These results illustrate the positive impact of our international recruitment efforts. In fact, more than 100 international nurses started working at the Network in 2023, and more than 110 joined the organization in the first six months of 2024.

Other report highlights

  • Improved patient flow through the Edmundston Regional Hospital surgical unit, with a one-day reduction in average length of stay for hip and knee surgeries
  • Reduced wait time for registration at the Chaleur Regional Hospital
  • Four regional hospitals awarded national Using Blood Wisely designation
  • Initiatives to support nurse practitioners in their practice
  • Development of liquid biopsies for lung cancer patients

For further information, see our quarterly report.

The report will be presented at the public meeting of the Board of Directors on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. The event can be attended in person at the Four Points by Sheraton, located at 100 Rice Street, Edmundston, or virtually via the Zoom platform.

There will be a question period at the end of the meeting. Questions can be sent in advance to engagement [at] vitalitenb.ca.

Journalists wishing to arrange an interview can now send a request to media [at] vitalitenb.ca.