Bruyère opens unit in Ottawa home to help patients transition from hospital to home

Bruyère is opening a short-stay transitional care unit at Greystone Village Retirement Home, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Patients will be admitted starting this week, from acute care hospitals such as The Ottawa Hospital, Queensway Carleton Hospital, and Hôpital Montfort. 

Located on Scholastic Drive in Ottawa, between the Rideau River and the Rideau Canal, the new 120-bed unit is being overseen by Bruyère and managed by Integrated Care Solutions, a division of Bayshore HealthCare. 

Known as alternate level of care patients or ALCs, patients who will be transferred to the transitional care unit at Greystone will be those who no longer need the acute care that hospitals provide, but are in need of specialized care before returning home or to long-term care. 

“Transitional care is needed in our region more than ever,” says Guy Chartrand, President and CEO of Bruyère. “These 120 beds will help alleviate some of the pressure on the health care system and on our acute care partners, while helping people access the care they need at a crucial time in their journey.”

When Greystone Village Retirement Home postponed its April opening due to the pandemic, the Champlain COVID-19 Response Committee identified the opportunity for Bruyère to create this brand new short-stay transitional unit at the facility. 

“Safe and seamless integration of hospital to home programs like this one demonstrates how important it is for our community health care services to work collaboratively with our hospital partners,” says Anita Fitches, Director of Integrated Care Solutions, a division of Bayshore HealthCare. 

This temporary unit is one of the solutions Bruyère is working on with its partners and the province of Ontario to help ease the challenges the region faces with respect to the availability of beds and the flow of patients. 

“Building more capacity is essential to ensure our health care system is prepared for a surge in demand and supports our ongoing efforts to end hallway health care in Ontario,” says Christine Elliott, Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “These new transitional care beds at Greystone Village Retirement Home will support patients and their families in the Ottawa region as they transition out of acute care into the next stage of their recovery.”