GREENSTONE — Life in the digital age yields mixed results in terms of accessibility, it seems.
A new appointment-booking system implemented by the Geraldton Medical Group and Greenstone Family Health Team is drawing ire from some residents across the municipality.
The online booking system is operated by OceanMD, based out of Toronto, with a cloud-based platform designed to ease strain on healthcare providers and staff with online booking forms, patient messages, and check-in kiosks.
Their website states that they are “empowering patients to access their own health data.”
Apparently some residents of Greenstone aren’t finding the online booking system very empowering.
The frustration residents are facing led the board of directors and management at Geraldton District Hospital to release a statement on Jan. 6 to clear the air about who implemented the system and where complaints should be directed.
In their statement, the board made it clear that the hospital is a separate entity from the Geraldton Medical Group and Greenstone Family Health Team.
“The Geraldton Medical Group is operated by the physician’s group, while the Family Health Team is managed by an executive director that reports to an independent Board of Directors, in which the hospital does not hold a seat,” the statement read.
“While we appreciate your thoughts and comments, we kindly request that you keep this information in mind when you visit the hospital and refrain from expressing your frustrations towards our staff. It is crucial that everyone has a safe work environment, and any form of verbal, cyber, or physical abuse towards our staff will not be tolerated.”
Geraldton District Hospital’s chief executive officer Darryl Galusha said that, other than having to set the record straight about the appointment booking system, everything is operating as it should at the hospital and staff are delivering care uninterrupted.
Shannon Kristjanson, executive director of the Greenstone Family Health Team, said the issue isn't isolated to Greenstone, but that the "significant human resource crisis" that is ongoing in the Canadian healthcare system is magnified in regions like Greenstone.
"The Greenstone Family Health Team and the Geraldton Physicians Group have been struggling to recruit and retain administrative staff for sometime now. Therefore, a remote solution was deemed the best option we had to maintain uninterrupted access to healthcare for our patients. Without this solution, there was a very real risk that we would have to reduce our operating hours, leaving patients without regular access to primary care," Kristanjson said, in a statement provided to Dougall Media.
"We chose to partner with an Ontario-based company that focuses exclusively on servicing the Canadian Healthcare industry. Because the company is local to Ontario, they are compliant with the Personal Health Information Protection Act, Ontario's health-specific privacy legislation. Although the administrative staff do not physically work in our Geraldton office, they work in a highly secured office building where privacy procedures are strictly enforced. They are trained the same way as our in-house staff, to carry out all the duties of a medical secretary, including booking patient appointments," she said.
Ultimately, Kristjanson made it clear that the Greenstone Family Health Team and the Geraldton Physician's Group are focussed on making sure care is accessible and that they have had no issues with remote or in-person staff.
"Our number one priority is patient care. The Greenstone Family Health Team and the Geraldton Physicians Group are pleased with the work quality of our new staff and their service has allowed us to continue providing healthcare to our patients 5 days a week. Our in-office staff and our virtual staff are excited to be working together towards providing the community with the best possible care."