Dr. Andrew Caruso's new job

NEWS RELEASE

NORTH EAST LHIN

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Northerners benefit from physician involvement in NE LHIN efforts to improve access to family health care

NE LHIN welcomes Dr. Andrew Caruso as emergency department lead

The North East LHIN continues to strengthen its efforts to improve access to quality care for Northerners with the appointment of Dr. Andrew Caruso as new Emergency Department (ED) Lead.

Dr. Caruso, currently medical director of Emergency Medicine at Espanola General Hospital and a former chief of staff there, will work with the NE LHIN to continue to champion improvements in emergency service delivery for Northerners.

From 2002-2006, Dr. Caruso was medical director of the Trauma Program at Sudbury Regional Hospital (now Health Sciences North).

A 1995 graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Caruso has served since 2004 as an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

In addition, Dr. Caruso has been medical director of the CritiCall Program for Northeastern and Northwestern (Northern) Ontario since 2003.

Funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, CritiCall is a 24-hour-a-day emergency referral service for physicians.

It provides medical information to respond to critically ill patient needs, such as the availability of hospital beds.

Dr. Caruso replaces Dr. Christopher Bourdon who has completed his three-year term as ED Lead for the NE LHIN.

As the LHIN’s ED Lead, Dr. Caruso will:

• Work closely with the Ministry’s Wait Times team.
• Consult and participate on the Ontario ED Expert Panel.
• Work with physician leads involved in various emergency department strategies.
• Participate on the ED LHIN Leaders’ Provincial Table.
• Contribute to a provincial analysis of ED data on a quarterly basis.
• Support the ED Strategy and other system improvements.
• Participate in ED human resource planning across the NE LHIN.
• Chair the NE LHIN’s ED Network.

“The opportunity to work with the North East LHIN team will enable me to influence change in Emergency Department care to benefit the people of Northeastern Ontario,” says Dr. Caruso.

“I look forward to Dr. Caruso’s efforts to assist the LHIN in its goal of helping Northerners to access primary care when and where they need it,” says Louise Paquette, North East LHIN CEO. “We greatly appreciated how the advice, knowledge and assistance of Dr. Bourdon contributed to our work to improve emergency care for fellow Northerners.”

Quick facts

Dr. Caruso’s appointment is the third LHIN milestone this year related to improving family healthcare:

• In January, the province released its Action Plan on Health Care and within it noted that it would integrate family healthcare into the LHINs; and
• In February, each LHIN hired a Primary Care Lead, a move which was endorsed both by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ontario Medical Association. The North East LHIN is pleased to have Dr. Tim Zmijowskyj working with us on integrating primary care into local health planning.

In 2011, the NE LHIN established an Emergency Department Network to act as a regional planning and implementation body for initiatives related to emergency services in Northeastern Ontario.

The Network includes the Medical Directors/ED Chiefs or ED administrative lead from each of the 25 general hospitals in Northeastern Ontario.

A first-ever regional ‘Life or Limb’ policy, which provides critically injured emergency patients with streamlined access to care, went into effect June 2011. It includes the region’s 25 hospitals and ensures that patients who are in danger of loss of ‘life or limb’ get access to the care of a specialist or specialized equipment at another hospital (within four hours). These transfers are now occurring even when the receiving hospital is overcapacity.
 
About the North East Local Health Integration Network (North East LHIN)

As a health-focused organization, the North East LHIN is helping both fellow Northerners and health care providers improve local access to health care.

The North East LHIN makes decisions about regional health care integration, funding and planning.

It oversees $1.4-billion in local health care investments on behalf of the 555,000 residents of Northeastern Ontario.

To find out more, visit nelhin.on.ca or call 1-866-906-5446.

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