Okotoks area residents now have the privacy they need when facing medical emergencies that land them in urgent care. Sheep River Health Trust (SRHT) is contributing $60,000 to the urgent care renovations at the Okotoks Health and Wellness Centre that includes a private triage desk for patients to describe their health concerns. The health trust is one of 10 recipients of the Western Wheel Cares campaign. SRHT funds health and wellness programs to support children and youth, community care programs, families, medical equipment and seniors in Okotoks, DeWinton, Black Diamond, Longview, Turner Valley, Millarville and the surrounding area. The urgent care renovation in Okotoks, which should be complete by Dec. 31, separates triage and registration to provide more privacy to patients, said Andrea Mitchell, SHRT executive director. The waiting room is now where the wellness centre lobby was located and the triage desk is in the former urgent care waiting room. “Now the triage nurse is the only one who hears you before you go to the registration desk near the lobby,” she said. “It provides better patient privacy.” Mitchell said moving the registration and triage desks also created more space for desks, filing and charting for urgent care physicians and nurses. “When you’re seeing 70 patients a day, management of the space is important for the function of nurses and doctors to ensure everything is moving efficiently in our system,” she said. “We’ve had great conversations with the doctors about how much difference it’s made. It opens the workspace and makes it easier for them to respect that patient privacy.” Money from the Wheel Cares campaign will go towards the $60,000 price tag for the renovation, while Alberta Health Services (AHS) covers costs for supplies including desks and the new hygiene sink, said Mitchell. She said the facility sees an average of 2,000 patients a month. “That’s a lot of people going through urgent care,” she said. “For our doctors and nurses our space is important to make sure they have better work areas.” Dr. Wayne Sefcik, the site medical lead for Okotoks urgent care, said the renovations provide much-needed space for physicians and nurses in urgent care. “As a physician I can actually sit down and do some of my charting instead of standing because there was no place to sit,” he said. “Before we were all jammed in there and had to wait to get a computer and we had to stand the whole time. It certainly makes it a much better working environment for all the nurses and physicians in this department.” Sefcik said the additional space will be helpful when AHS brings its Connect Care computer system to Okotoks in 2019. “AHS is coming up with this whole new computer system where a lot of the information will be on the computer,” he said. “There’s going to be much more need for being at a computer that’s available for everybody. It will be starting province wide. It’s a huge initiative with AHS.” The renovation is also a huge plus for patients, Sefcik said. “It’s definitely nice from the privacy standpoint,” he said. “It was really hard for people to have very much privacy to talk about their problems.” Sefcik said he appreciates the work of the trust to help support the cost of the renovations at urgent care. “It’s a great service and a great resource,” he said. “We’re always looking at ways we can improve here. We’re happy that the community is working with us.” Last year, SRHT contributed more than $200,000 to various projects in the community including KidSport, meal programs in 12 Foothills schools, It Takes a Village, Rowan House Emergency Shelter, Literacy for Life, Turner Valley School’s Legacy Park, sensory equipment and murals in Black Diamond’s Rising Sun Long Term Care and the maternity care project, Delivering a Better Experience, in the High River Hospital. Other charities in this year’s Wheel Cares campaign are Foothills Country Hospice, Foothills SNAPS, Habitat for Humanity Foothills Chapter, Magic of Christmas, Okotoks Food Bank, Big Brothers Big Sister of Calgary and Area, Rowan House Society, St. Vincent de Paul and Pound Rescue. Donations to the Wheel Cares Campaign can be made via credit card, debit, cash or cheque (payable to Western Wheel Cares) at #9 McRae Street, mailed to Box 150 Okotoks, AB T1S 2A2 (please do not mail cash) or by calling 403-938-6397. Visit www.westernwheel.com to donate using Paypal. Donations of $10 or more will receive a 2018 official tax receipt at the end of the campaign. For more information call the Western Wheel office Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 403-938-6397.
