‘Nice to be able to get that extra help’: LHSC touts new transition to home health care program

A new LHSC program will provide eligible patients with up to 16 weeks of home-care services after they leave the hospital. Bryan Bicknell with details.

When patients leave the hospital after an extended stay it can be difficult to transition to full recovery on their own.

It’s something Elisabeth Hutchison knows all too well.

“I’m a work in progress. I’m getting better. I have been out of hospital, it will be a year tomorrow,” she explained.

It was in March of 2024 when Elisabeth was first admitted to London Health Sciences Centre with a host of medical issues. When she was finally released and sent home, many months later, the care continued - but in a different way.

Now 84, she was one of the first patients to access LHSC To Home, a program to provide patients with personalized care as they transition from hospital to home.

“I was so happy, but also very much weaker than I anticipated. You took for granted that you have three meals a day, you have nurses to look after you. And you know that’s why the replacement of this program is so important,” she said.

For Elisabeth’s daughter, Sarah Hutchison, it was much needed relief to have her mother home, recovering where she feels most comfortable.

“She so needed to be home as part of her recovery. I think it was really, incredibly important for her own mental health. It was time to leave the hospital. Even if she wasn’t well enough, she really wanted to be home,” said Sarah.

LHSC has partnered with SE Health for the LHSC to Home Program. SE Health is a non-profit social enterprise health provider.

Supported by the province, the program offers up to 16 weeks of personalized home care services.

A team of health care professionals delivers a specific program for each patient, explained Shelby Fisch, vice president of the Acute Transition Program for SE Health.

“Our primary nurse goes in, assesses the patient. We bring in the whole interprofessional team, which includes physiotherapists, or occupational therapists, our PSWs, social worker, dietitian. We do a fulsome assessment, and we develop personalized programs,” said Fisch.

The home care program has helped 500 patients in just its first year.

That’s 500 people not taking up a much-needed hospital bed, says Tammy Quigley, vice president of cancer, renal, mental health and patient flow at LHSC.

“Our emergency department wait times can be decreased. It means that ambulances aren’t waiting to offload patients into the emergency department. It means we’re not canceling surgery. It is an absolute game-changer for us,” she said.

Quigley says LHSC hopes to expand the program by another 100 patients in the coming year.

As for Hutchison, home is where the heart is, and the health is.

“My family really turned up for me. But it was nice to be able to get that extra help,” she said.