St Joe’s about to adopt gender-integrated wards

Some changes at Hamilton’s St Joseph’s Healthcare beginning Monday. Patients in some areas of the hospital could be rooming with a member of the opposite sex.

Mixed gender rooming is being rolled out slowly, beginning in 4 areas of the facility next week. It’s expected to go hospital-wide in January.

Administrators were unavailable to talk about the changes, but in an email to staff they explained the move this way:

“Inpatient units are making many patient transfers to accommodate for gender. The more transfers patients experience, the higher the risk of infection, medication error, and falls… The number of patient transfers due to gender can be eliminated by implementing a mixed-gender protocol.”

The hospital also armed frontline staff with a list of frequently asked questions along with appropriate responses to patients. Included in that list:

“What is the process if patients express concern about being placed in a mixed gender room? The answer: patients will be instructed to notify their nurse if they have concerns with being placed in a mixed gender room.”

Another question came from the staff perspective: “I am concerned that this is going to lead to an increased risk in physical or sexual assault.” The response: “the safety of our patients while in our care is of the utmost importance, and this initiative will not affect our current practice around patient safety.”

While this is a change in operations for St Joe’s, it’s important to point out mixed gender rooming has been a common practice with Hamilton Health Sciences over the last 4 years.

Video: Maria Hayes reports: