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North York General Hospital, a Recognized Leader in Infection Control, Responds to the SARS Commission Report

January 9, 2007 — North York General Hospital welcomed the final report from the SARS Commission, and will continue to build on the advancements the hospital has made in the years since SARS.

"If there is a silver lining to SARS, it was that we learned so much from the experience and have been able to apply the lessons going forward," said Bonnie Adamson, North York General Hospital's President and CEO. "Infectious diseases are inevitable, and they are unpredictable. But we are now in a better position to deal with the challenges."

Adamson said the SARS Commission report reinforces the tremendous work done by the staff at North York General Hospital to deal with the SARS outbreak when it happened.

"From front-line staff to senior management, our team demonstrated great courage, commitment and compassion under extremely difficult circumstances," she said. "I am very proud of the way we dealt with SARS, and how we have built on what we learned."

Building on the experience and lessons learned during SARS, North York General Hospital has become a leader in infectious disease control. Steps taken by North York General Hospital include:

• expanding the Infection Prevention and Control Program;
• recruiting additional staff for the Occupational Health Department, including an Occupational Health Nurse, a Safety Advisor and an Ability Manager;
• developing a comprehensive system for screening and surveillance of high-risk patients;
• constructing 16 new negative pressure isolation rooms in Emergency, totalling 18;
• enhancing educational programs for all staff to reinforce hand hygiene technique;
• actively participating in community education by hosting the region's Infection Prevention and Control Network;
• formally designating an "outbreak team" that will be called together to manage any declared outbreak; converting rooms — originally semi-private to private — to facilitate isolation of patients with communicable diseases;
• and engaging hospital staff in developing plans to respond to pandemic illness.

"We appreciate the important work of the SARS Commission, and we are proud of our staff's contribution to the investigation," Adamson said. "We will review the report and its recommendations very carefully, as part of our ongoing effort to improve the quality of care at North York General Hospital."

North York General Hospital, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is one of Canada's leading community teaching hospitals. We provide a wide range of acute care, ambulatory and long-term care services across four sites to help our culturally diverse community embrace health. Our four clinical priorities are Regional Maternal Newborn and Paediatric Care; Cancer Care; Family and Community Medicine; and, Care of the Elderly. Our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do. Our focus is to embrace the health of our community by providing innovative and compassionate care for the whole person throughout all stages of life, across generations.

Contact:
Corporate Communications
North York General Hospital
Phone: (416) 756-6127