Just What The Doctor Ordered Health Minster Angus MacIsaac was in Amherst on Tuesday to announce the province will fund the opening of the third operating room at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre. OR nurse Joan Vogels is shown checking on some of the equipment in one of the two minimally-invasive ORs already located at the hospital.

March 30, 2005 - Amherst Daily News

Third OR announced for hospital
By Darrell Cole, Managing Editor

AMHERST – It’s just what the doctor ordered. The Cumberland Health Authority’s successful recruitment and retention campaign has resulted in a commitment from the province to open a third operating room at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Upper Nappan.

The project, valued at $800,000, is expected to start soon with a completion date set for Jan. 1, 2006. Of that amount, $500,000 is being funded by the province and $100,000 from a federal medical equipment fund while the remaining $200,000 will be raised in the community.

The additional OR also means there will be more funding from the province to cover operational costs, including $300,000 in the first year and $600,000 in succeeding years.

“Across the province, health care professionals and volunteers are doing innovative, hard work as you are here at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre. That’s why it’s a delight for me to announce a construction project that will enhance the care you are providing at this hospital to the residents of Cumberland County,” Health Minister Angus MacIsaac said while making the announcement on Tuesday. “As most of you know, it was always the plan that this centre have three operating rooms to meet the needs of the community. The right time has come for that to happen.”

The addition of the third operating room will result in the addition of 10 beds at the hospital, bringing the number of beds back to the level it was at the former Highland View hospital, as well as the addition of three OR nurses. The hospital is also hoping to recruit a fourth surgeon by Aug. 1, joining doctors Chris Oung, Paul Van Boxel and Aqeel Al-Aqeel.

“A mandate of this government is to make sure that Nova Scotians are able to access health care in a timely manner. That is why we are pleased to fund this additional operating room,” the minister said. “Your recruitment successes have resulted in increases in the number of surgical cases and that has lead to the need for more operating time.”

When the hospital opened in November 2002, it included two state of the art minimally-invasive operating theatres. A third room, while included in the original design, was set aside for future expansion due to budget constraints at the time.

The expansion will also result in the hospital having three of only 25 minimally-invasive surgical suites in the country.

ENT specialist Dr. Tim Wallace, who also uses the facility’s operating rooms on a regular basis, said the additional OR will help the hospital respond to the increasing demand for its services. Along with treating county residents, Dr. Wallace said it will help the hospital serve patients in southeastern New Brunswick.

“We are now seeing patients with downtown Moncton addresses as well as people from Truro, New Glasgow and Cape Breton. We wouldn’t be seeing these people here if it weren’t for the services now being offered,” he said.

With a string of recruiting successes that has brought eight specialists to the hospital in just over a year, the facility’s two ORs are operating at full capacity and the need for a third became more evident as the health authority’s repatriation campaign began encouraging Cumberland County residents to have their specialty needs looked after here.

Authority CEO Bruce Quigley said in-patient lab tests are up 22 per cent, surgical admissions are up 28 per cent, diagnostic imaging is up 35 per cent, day surgery is up 37 per cent and in-patient surgical procedures are up 50 per cent.

Cumberland North MLA and Economic Development Minister Ernie Fage said the funding shows how important the provision of health care services is in rural Nova Scotia and said the local health-care community has come a long way in a short time.

“When I think back five or six years ago, none of this was here. This community and supporters of the hospital had a vision. They’ve worked extremely hard and we stand here with this new hospital and services being expanded to all the residents of Cumberland County,” Fage said. “That’s a huge achievement.”