KGH passes provincial inspection of our Ebola preparations with flying colours

The flurry of activity surrounding preparations for potential Ebola cases at Kingston General Hospital has paid off. Ministry of Labour inspectors came to KGH last week to inspect all of the protocols in place and were very pleased with their findings. In fact, they have recognized KGH as one of only two hospitals in Ontario where there were no orders written after the initial visit.

“To have received such positive feedback from the Ministry of Labour on our preparation measures is testament to the tremendous amount of time, work and effort by the staff and volunteers at KGH,” said Dr. David Zelt, Executive VP and Chief of Staff. “This report clearly reflects all of the due diligence and attention to detail we’ve followed to ensure our staff and patients will be safe if we were to ever experience a case of Ebola at KGH.”

The visit was to review KGH’s compliance with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care directives for Ebola preparedness. On this visit, ministry representatives inspected the Emergency Department entrance and triage area, dedicated rooms for a suspected patient to be assessed and treated in, patient transportation routes and the Clinical Labs. They also inspected Ebola Personal Protective Equipment carts and reviewed the policies and procedures in place for Infection Control, Clinical Labs and Environmental Services.

“Not only did the Ministry have no orders written for us, but their visit confirmed our compliance with directives given on October 17,” said Darlene Campbell, Manager of Infection Prevention and Control. “They were impressed as some other facilities they had inspected hadn’t been able to update their protocols yet to meet the most recent version of the provincial directives.”

Work is continuing to ensure that KGH is meeting all Ministry directives, which are regularly updated. Staff training is continuing to roll out in areas where staff will be involved in the care of a patient who is either under investigation or confirmed as having Ebola. If a staff member hasn’t been approached for training then they are not expected to be involved in the care of a potential or confirmed case.