The Need

It's our time to have life- and limb-saving surgical care here at home.

thunder-bay

Compared to the rest of Ontario, we have: 

  • The highest rate of cardiac disease

  • The highest rate of amputations (3 times the provincial average)

  • Among the highest incidence of high blood pressure

  • The highest rate of stroke and diabetes

  • The highest rate of kidney disease

  • The highest rate of risk factors contributing to these chronic diseases including smoking, alcohol use, poor diet and poor exercise

  • An above-average admission rate for cardiovascular conditions

 

And we have the longest average travel distance to access the cardiovascular surgical services we need.

ontario-map-of-cardiac-centres

The Solution

Dr. Barry Rubin

We are developing a full Cardiovascular Surgery Program in Thunder Bay in conjunction with the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the University Health Network. The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre is Canada’s premier cardiac centre with a global impact of improving heart health around the world. We are excited to bring that same level of excellence to our patients at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

 

"No one should have to travel thousands of kilometres and be separated from their family to undergo standard bypass surgery. The one program on two sites model that we will implement will ensure that the quality of care delivered in Thunder Bay and at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre is the same. Quality, safety and local access will be the cornerstones of this partnership."

Dr. Barry Rubin, Medical Director of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and the Cardiovascular Program at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

 

The Impact

Number of patients that will benefit from having cardiovascular surgery close to home:

Cardiac surgery
400/yr
up to
500/yr
when program
reaches maturity

Vascular surgery
600/yr

Approximately
10-15%
of these patients will receive
urgent or emergent care

3-surgeons-closer

Our partnership with the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre means we will save lives and limbs every day.

Once in place, our surgical program will:

  • improve access to urgent and emergent cardiac and vascular surgery,

  • enhance our regional trauma care,

  • improve the vascular access required for the high volume of patients needing dialysis and,

  • decrease the use of amputations as the first line of treatment for vascular disease

 

Having surgery available in Northwestern Ontario can mean the difference between life and death.