Long Stay Hospital Patients in Acute Care Hospital beds - What does Dementia have to do with this?

Abstract

The Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) has established a patient classification called Alternative Level of Care (ALC) that applies to patients who have completed the acute care phase of their treatment but remain in an acute care bed (1). It is estimated that 5-14% of all acute care beds in Canada are occupied by ALC patients (2). In Atlantic Canada specifically, an equivalent of 468 acute care beds were occupied by ALC patients in 2009-2010 (3). ALC patients tend to be older and the majority have a diagnosis of dementia.