CCH Enhances Critical Care Services
2025-02-15
Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH)
is enhancing its critical care services with the creation of a new Critical
Care Step-Down Unit.
The new Step-Down Unit bridges
the gap between the Critical Care Unit (CCU) and the Inpatient Medical or
Surgery Units. It offers a specialized level of care for patients who are
critically ill and require more intensive monitoring and support than what is
provided in the medical inpatient units, but not as intensive as the CCU.
The Step-Down Unit features 4
beds, located in a newly retrofitted space on the first floor. It is equipped
with state-of-the-art life-saving technology similar to that in the CCU on the
fifth floor. A centralized nursing station directly across from the unit
provides real-time telemetry monitoring allowing staff to closely monitor
patients at all times.
“The new Step-Down Unit allows us
to expand critical care services by providing a dedicated space for patients
who are less critically ill but still require specialized monitoring and
support,” said Dr. Paul Westergaard, Medical Director of the CCU. “This, in
turn, increases our ability to manage surges in high-acuity cases within the
main CCU. For example, postoperative patients and those who need cardiac and
respiratory monitoring, but not high-level life support, benefit from this
intermediate level of care.”
Patients may be transferred to
the Step-Down Unit for continued monitoring and recovery once they have been
stabilized in the CCU and as deemed appropriate by the medical team. This
reduces the need for patient transfers to other facilities and enhances our
capacity to handle increases in critically ill patients in the main CCU,
ensuring that more individuals can receive the care they need close to home.
The CCU at CCH is staffed by a
dedicated team of specially trained healthcare professionals who provide 24/7
critical care, including advanced monitoring, life-saving treatments, and
ventilator support. Leading this team are intensivists (physicians with
expertise in intensive care such as Dr. Westergaard) who work alongside nurses,
physiotherapists, dietitians, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and others,
to deliver comprehensive, multidisciplinary care.
It is not uncommon for the unit
to operate at full capacity. On average, the CCU treats over 550 patients
annually. With the new Step-Down Unit, CCH can now care for 13 critically ill
patients at any given time. CCH remains the only hospital in the East Champlain
Region outside of Ottawa equipped to provide critical care and ventilator
support.
Enhancing access to care and
establishing physical capacity are key priorities in CCH’s 2022-2027 Strategic
Plan. We are proud to be delivering on these priorities to meet the needs of
our patient population. Many inpatient rooms have also been updated and the
hospital continues to plan and advocate for further capital improvements to
enhance facilities and services.