Care of trauma patients in the focus of hospital staff – The Royal Gazette

Created: 12 December 2024 15:29 (Updated: 12 December 2024 15:34)

Around the table: Anna Neilson-Williams, BHB Interim Chief of Staff, Scott Pearman, BHB Chief Executive, Arthur Ebbin, BHB Chief Financial Officer, Sita Ingram, BHB Vice President of Clinical Operations, Keechia Tuckett, Acting Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Health, Luiza Jovetic, senior associate, global services, Johns Hopkins Medicine International and Kent Stevens, trauma specialist, Johns Hopkins (Photo courtesy of the Bermuda Hospitals Board)

Bermuda Hospitals Board staff and community surgeons worked last week with a trauma specialist from a US facility to improve care and outcomes for patients on the island.

Kent Stevens, associate professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, was joined by BHB staff from the emergency department, intensive care unit, surgery, pathology, pharmacy, imaging services and the executive team.

Community surgeons were also part of the session to discuss improvements to services for the island.

The BHB said the talks covered “a possible transatlantic clinical collaboration that will give local doctors access to Johns Hopkins specialists when managing the most difficult individual cases”.

He explained that the work was undertaken as part of BHBs clinical affiliation agreement with Johns Hopkins Medicine International.

Scott Pearman, chief executive and chairman of the hospital’s board, said: “BHB’s vision is to pursue excellence through improvement, to make Bermuda proud and this week we saw our vision in action as we focused on improving trauma care for island patients.

“We have amazing staff and community surgeons working around the clock – literally – to save the lives of people injured in crashes, accidents, shootings and stabbings.

“All of us in Bermuda rely on these individuals if we experience medical trauma, and it’s great to see our clinical affiliation with Johns Hopkins Medicine International provide the support our local providers need as they work to make improvements.”

Interim Chief of Staff Anna Neilson-Williams added: “It has been a fantastic few days working with all BHB departments and the external surgeons who are part of the trauma response teams working with Johns Hopkins to improve the care of our patients. in Bermuda.

“When a patient is injured from an accident, accident or violent incident, there are many moving parts in the medical response.

“When all these parts come together is critical to getting a patient diagnosed and treated effectively and efficiently.

“Following a traumatic incident, a rapid response is often crucial to saving their lives, whether they can be fully treated in Bermuda or require stabilization before being sent overseas.

“So our focus has been very much on how we can coordinate our response more efficiently and quickly and discuss solutions to the limitations of living on a small island where we don’t have specialists on the ground to cover everyone. need trauma.

“I look forward to the next steps of working together to address all the issues, comments and ideas raised this week and turn them into front-line improvements that will directly benefit our patients.”

Dr Stevens said it was a pleasure to visit Bermuda and meet health professionals on the island.

He added: “I was impressed with the facility and the staff.

“Bermuda should already be proud, but in health, improvement is always possible.

“I was able to share knowledge of the quality standards and processes we use at Johns Hopkins and my experience dealing with very similar issues that the teams here face.

“I look forward to exploring further opportunities to support the improvement of local services.”