Medical Program

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Your Healthcare Team

In the medical program, teams of people work together to provide care.

Members of the health care team work with patients and families to discuss:

• What has happened
• What treatment and care is needed
• What to expect while on the unit
• What to expect after patients are discharged or transferred to an appropriate long-term care facility

Some team members you may meet:

TEAM MEMBER	HOW THEY HELP
DOCTORS: Hospitalist	A hospitalist is a physician who specializes in caring for patients admitted to hospital. At Grand River Hospital, they care for patients who do not have a family doctor, or whose family doctor has chosen not to have care privileges here. Hospitalists work with a team of specialists, nurses, therapists, and other health care staff to provide high quality medical care A hospitalist is the physician most responsible for a patient's care. On nights and on weekends, there is always a hospitalist on-call in case of an emergency.
Internist	Internal medicine specialist
Respirologist	Lung specialist
Nephrologist/urologist	Kidney specialist
Cardiologist	Heart specialist
Neurologist	Nervous system specialist
Family physician	May or may not be responsible for the patient's in-hospital stay but will be updated on any medical concerns when the patient is discharged.
REGISTERED NURSE/REGISTERED PRACTICAL NURSE	Registered practical nurses plan and provide daily patient care, answer questions and address concerns and assist with planning patient discharges.
REGISTERED CLINICAL DIETICIAN/DIET TECHNICIAN	Registered clinical dieticians and diet technicians assess a patient's nutritional status, educate, and ensure that nutritional needs are being met.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST	Occupational therapists assess a patient's ability to manage daily activities (dressing, grooming, cooking) and provide treatment to increase activity tolerance. They also help to identify what supports a patient will need after discharge.
PHYSIOTHERAPIST	Physiotherapists assess a patient's physical functioning and disabilities to create a care plan that will increase strength, improve balance, and encourage normal movement patterns. They also assist with discharge planning.
THERAPY ASSISTANT	Therapy assistants help occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and speech language pathologists.
PHARMACIST	Pharmacists provide drug information to patients, doctors, and other members of the health care team.
SOCIAL WORKER	Social workers help patients and family members learn ways to cope with changes. Providing information about financial and community support services, they also assist with discharge planning.
RESPIRATORY THERAPIST	Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, respiratory therapists assess and treat a variety of heart and lung disorders.
SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST	Speech language pathologists assess and make recommendations for managing swallowing problems, and helps patients with spoken and written communication.
SPIRITUAL CARE/PASTORAL CARE	Spiritual care offers support, counselling and help in times of trauma, stress or loss for patients, family members, or hospital staff.
CASE MANAGER FOR COMMUNITY CARE ACCESS CENTRE (CCAC)	Case managers from CCAC help assess and plan patients' discharge needs

Please speak to any member of the health care team if your family has a special or cultural request.