Surgical nurse Joan Vogels prepares equipment in a surgical suite at the CUmberland Regional Health Care Centre on Tuesday.

April 2005 - The herald

Hospital gets OR boost
Cumberland facility will have three of only 25 suites in country for minimally invasive operations
by Tom McCOAG

AMHERST - Doctors are going to have more space to operate with the construction of a third surgical room at the local hospital.

"You have brought us just what the doctor ordered," Cumberland health authority chairman Bruce Saunders said Tuesday to Health Minister Angus MacIsaac.

The minister has just announced the $8000,000 project.

"A mandate of this government is to make sure that Nova Scotians are able to access health care in a timely manner," Mr. MacIsaac said.

"That is why we are pleased to fund this additional operating room . I am pleased that together with the Cumberland health authority, we are now able to offer medical help to people as close to home as we can,"

The surgery suite, for minimally invasive procedures, will see its first patient next January. It will be the third such suite at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre and one of only 25 in the country.

Equipment will include a system that will enable surgeons to consult with peers in Hamilton or Halifax while an operation is in progress.

The new surgery suite will allow 10 new surgical beds to be opened at the hospital, bringing the hospital's total beds up to 75 - the number in the old Highland View Regional Hospital when it closed five years ago.

Three new surgical nurses will be hired. Health officials are still working out how many other staff will be needed.

The need for a new surgical suite is the result of successful recruiting effort that attracted an ear, nose and throat specialist, an obstetrician and four general surgeons to the hospital in the past year.

The recruiting and a plan by the authority to "repatriate" local patients who have had their surgery done in centres like Moncton, Truro and Halifax resulted in a 37 per cent increase in day surgeries, a 28 percent rise in surgical admissions and in-patient surgical procedures increasing by 50 per cent in the last quarter.

Dr. Tim Wallace, the ear, nose and throat specialist, said he is seeing patients from New Glasgow, Cape Breton, New Brunswick and the United States. "The recruiting of specialists has resulted in more work, longer waiting times," Dr. Wallace said. "This new suit will help handle that."

Dr. Paul Van Boxel, a surgeon with 30 years' experience in Ontario before coming to Amherst, said the opening of surgical suites and adding beds is a rarity these days. "Since the '80s, the trend has been to close things down."

The province will kick in $5000,000 toward the project, while the federal government through its medical equipment fund will contribute $100000. The remaining $200,000 will have to be raised locally.

The province will also provide $300,000 to operate the suite for the remainder of the 2005-06 fiscal year and about $600,000 per year after that.

Mr. MacIsaac also unveiled a plaque at the Springhill's All Saints Hospital commemorating the opening of a helipad there.