Niagara Health is launching a new service at the Niagara Falls hospital to help ICU patients.
The Critical Care Response Team (CCRT), first offered at the St. Catharines Site, is expanding to Niagara Falls as of tomorrow.
It is a registered nurse-led program that will initially be available from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week and will expand to a 24/7 service in 2023.
CCRT works with hospital staff to identify, assess and respond to the needs of seriously ill patients to improve patient outcomes.
The staff members will also follow up to make sure patients recently transferred out of critical care do not require readmission to the ICU.
“Expanding the CCRT to our Niagara Falls Site will help to increase patient safety and quality of care, as well as improve general access to critical care resources,” says Elayn Young, Director, Critical Care, Cardiac and Respirology, Niagara Health. “Early identification of patients in need allows the response team to stabilize them on the ward or facilitate a rapid admission to the ICU. In addition to enhancing patient safety, CCRT’s have been shown to increase staff engagement and satisfaction.”