By Cecilia Nasmith

A lot has changed on the second floor of Northumberland Hills Hospital since the Nov. 1 funding announcement by Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini.

Comments made at the hospital board's December meeting leave no doubt that the move made possible by the increase – addressing the patient surge on 2B and redistributing medical-surgical beds across both 2A and 2B units - is positive for both staff and patients.

NHH had been forced for fiscal reasons to consolidate medical-surgical inpatient care on the 2B side in 2016 in order to gain efficiencies.

The result, according to president and chief executive officer Linda Davis's report, was that the manageable 32-bed 2B unit they envisioned swelled to a 52-bed unit that was not ideal for patients, their family members or the hospital staff.

The increased funding recently announced allowed the hospital to reconstitute separate 2A and 2B medical-surgical units.

Vice-president of Human Resources and Quality Elizabeth Vosburgh told the board that this is something the staff really wanted.

“I heard the large size of the unit made it difficult to deliver care – the geography alone was very difficult,” Vosburgh said.

“We have been able to streamline the geography.”

The staff are appreciative, the board heard, eagerly embracing the challenge with a can-do spirit.

Patients seem to appreciate what was termed the atmospheric difference, as they deal with less yelling and fewer alarms going off.

NHH Auxiliary chair Marg Hilborn gave the perspective of a visitor, as she paid two calls on a friend who was an inpatient. The first visit was before the change, and the second was after.

She was most struck on her second visit by the hallways and the sudden lack of huddled conversations and equipment.

“It was like paradise, compared to what it had been before,” Hilborn said.