Grand River Hospital is committed to improving patient care through a number of innovative initiatives. We collaborate with our educational and corporate partners to identify and implement novel solutions to pain points experienced in health care. These innovations range from trialing new medical technologies to running clinical trials to learn more about COVID-19 and many others.
The most recent edition of “ACTION at Grand River Hospital” highlights a few of the numerous innovations that we launched with our partners to increase the number of positive patient outcomes and experiences at Grand River Hospital, in the community, and at home. One of these initiatives is highlighted in our feature story, ‘Grand River Hospital Finds Its Voyce’.
Read an abridged version of the story below and learn about just one of the many incredible innovations improving patient experience at Grand River:
Voyce is a Canadian-based technology company that supplies professional and qualified language interpreters to provide healthcare related interpretations. Voyce operates across a variety of technology and telehealth platforms and offers services in over 235 languages and dialects, including American Sign Language and Canadian Indigenous languages such as Cree, Inuktikc, and Ojibwa. What makes Voyce different from traditional interpretation services used in healthcare? It’s the use of virtual, real-time, face-to face interpretation.
In the fall/winter of 2021, Grand River Hospital hosted a pilot program of the Voyce system within hospital programs where access to qualified interpretation services are vital to providing excellence in patient care. Shival Seth, Integrated Director, Digital Services at Grand River Hospital oversaw the implementation of this program within the Emergency Department (ED), Intensive Care Unit (ICU B) and Childbirth Programs. Training was led by Voyce staff for Grand River Hospital team members, including registered nurses.
As part of the pilot program, patients and care partners in the Childbirth, ED, and ICU B units who required interpretation services were provided a tablet device equipped with the Voyce app. These patients were able to speak directly with an interpreter, virtually, who was able to translate the patients’ questions and concerns in English to their Grand River Hospital healthcare provider in real-time.
Kim Moran, Clinical Manager of the Childbirth unit and Jane Foster, Education Practice Leader for the Emergency Department, were especially pleased with the results of the Voyce pilot project.
“The ED staff have nothing but accolades for Voyce,” Foster says. “From the use of the system to accessing the correct interpreter in a timely fashion and the subsequent patient and staff interaction, Voyce has received nothing but superlative feedback. The additional feature of assisting our patients who are hearing impaired is also fantastic.”
As a community partnership, Grand River Hospital also provided the opportunity and training for the Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre to pilot Voyce. Other local community organizations that look forward to the opportunity to pilot this system include Reception House, Woolwich Community Health Centre, and the Centre for Family Medicine.
Read the full ACTION piece, including the full-length version of ‘Grand River Hospital Finds Its Voyce’.
