Lazaridis gifts $2M to Grand River Hospital

The donation will allow for tech-enhanced patient care | Photo by Jessica Dik

The emergency centre at Grand River Hospital has been renamed in honour of Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis, who gifted the emergency department with a donation of $2 million.

The new Lazaridis Family Foundation Emergency Department was officially announced and made public on November 24.

Malcolm Maxwell, president and chief executive officer of Grand River Hospital, said the donation from the Lazaridis family will allow the hospital to take crucial steps in a series of initiatives they plan to undertake to provide better care for patients across the Waterloo-Wellington area. Maxwell explained the hospital had the opportunity to discuss the needs of Grand River Hospital and its priorities with the Lazaridis Family Foundation.

“They indicated that part of their philanthropy could be directed towards health care and expressed an interest in a couple of initiatives we had here at the hospital,” he said.

In a press conference, Mike Lazaridis said he and his wife, Ophelia, were “pleased and honoured to be able to help out.”

“It was very natural for us to further help the great care that’s being done by Grand River Hospital Emergency Department,” Lazaridis said in the statement.

The Lazaridis donation will be used for two major purposes in the Emergency Centre. The first is to develop a fully automated system that will handle patient information.

Through the newly computerized system, orders made by physicians for delivery of medications or for laboratory tests, X-rays and exams, will have the capability to be conducted in a more efficient manner.

“That will help with the time it takes to provide care to a patient in the emergency department,” said Maxwell.

“It was very natural for us to further help the great care that’s being done by Grand River Hospital Emergency Department.”

The new system also provides safety advantages. It will reduce the risk of errors as information will be passed through fewer hands and fewer people.

Secondly, the donation will allow the hospital to provide adequate support to individuals with complicated health histories.

“[Some patients] have two or three different illnesses and multiple medications,” said Maxwell. “They may experience some distress … but not be so ill that they need an immediate admission to a hospital bed.”

In this situation, the hospital’s Rapid Access clinic, with the help of the Emergency Centre, will allow these patients to receive assistance at a specialty clinic staffed by an internal medicines specialist.

Grand River Hospital will be able to transform their information system and the way work passes through and is handled by physicians, nurses and pharmacists.

Maxwell said it will improve the system of handling patient information and ensures safety by eliminating situations where errors can easily occur.

“Transcription errors and hand-offs between individuals will happen in a clear and well defined electronic environment,” he said.