Making Room for Hospital's New Cardiovascular Surgical Program
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Arlene Thomson, Senior Director of Cardiovascular Program Development and Implementation, looks over expansion plans for the Hospital’s new Cardiovascular Surgical Program. |
A full cardiovascular surgical program at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is expected to be up and running in 2020. The burden of cardiovascular disease in Northwestern Ontario is well above the provincial average. Meeting the acute care needs of our patients means providing cardiac and vascular care close to home. Capital planning is now underway, bringing our Hospital one step closer to launching the new program.
“We are excited to be making significant progress, in collaboration with the University Health Network’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre,” said Arlene Thomson, Senior Director, Cardiovascular Program Development and Implementation. “We are working closely with the Capital Planning Branch at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to ensure our facility is ready to offer these new, much needed services.”
The new program will require more beds, specifically for cardiovascular patients. Our Hospital is also working with architects and planners to identify appropriate locations for the new areas that will be needed for this program. This includes 19 additional patient beds, a new surgical suite and related renovations, new vascular lab, renovations to Ambulatory Care and Central Processing and other updates as required.
“Right now, our goal is to build within our Hospital walls where possible. An expansion of our current Hospital is likely, and will be done within accordance of Ministry guidelines and in such a way that will support our ability to provide quality patient care across all clinical units.”
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has committed to funding 90% of the construction costs associated with the project. It will be up to our community to cover the remaining 10% of the construction costs plus 100% of the capital equipment costs.
To learn more about cardiovascular care at our Hospital, please visit www.tbh.net.