This week leading up to Thanksgiving is Gratitude Week at PRHC Foundation, and it’s you we’re grateful for! PRHC Foundation President & CEO, Lesley Heighway, kicks off the week with a video message for you.
Follow us on social media to see thank you videos from doctors, nurses and patients. Thank you!
Dr. Fady Abdelsayed is an Interventional Radiologist at PRHC. We asked him to tell us about interventional radiology, known as “the best kept secret in medicine,” and how an upgrade and expansion to PRHC’s IR facilities will improve care for thousands of patients in our region…
What is interventional radiology?
In interventional radiology we use real-time imaging – radiology – to find and correct, or intervene in, health conditions. We use CT scans, fluoroscopy or ultrasound to steer needles, guidewires and catheters into tiny incisions in the skin or through blood vessels to perform a procedure.
What kind of procedures use interventional radiology?
Interventional radiology is becoming integral to patient care. We use it during scheduled procedures and in emergencies. It’s helpful for a wide range of health conditions and patients. If a patient has an infection, we might use interventional radiology to drain it. With cancer, we might use it to do a biopsy. Bleeding – we might use interventional radiology to stop the hemorrhage. And if surgery is too high-risk for a patient, this kind of procedure could be a safer, faster option. Some days, no two procedures are the same or an everyday procedure needs a new ‘twist’ to get the best result for that patient.
How does interventional radiology support great patient care at PRHC?
It helps us innovate and push the boundaries of what we can do for patients. It often lets us quickly give a patient relief from discomfort or help get them a diagnosis. Because it’s minimally invasive, patients have less pain, shorter hospital stays, and face less risks than with surgery.
If PRHC has this service now, why should donors invest in it?
Right now, interventional radiology is used for almost 6,000 patients at PRHC every year, but the two interventional radiology suites were built 13 years ago. They’re too small to fit the number of medical personnel and state-of-the-art equipment we need to expand and offer this care to more patients. We can do this with renovated suites, a new step-down unit and cutting-edge equipment. We’ll also be able to introduce new methods to treat things like stroke and cancer. We all want to give our patients the best care possible, but the government funds only a portion of the hospital’s costs. So, we’re very grateful to our community for helping us by donating to the PRHC Foundation. Thank you, donors!
For more information or to support this exciting investment, please click here or call 705-876-5000.
Last year when your hospital needed help to fund a new, top of the line camera to facilitate orthopedic surgeries, our community responded with enthusiasm. As a result, the PRHC Foundation was able to fund this state-of-the-art camera. It’s been on site and in use since early this year.
Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Crawford Dobson and his colleagues are grateful for your support. The high definition camera is helping them perform minimally invasive arthroscopic knee and shoulder repair for hundreds of patients a year, so they can quickly get back to living their lives with less pain and more mobility.
“Our new high definition camera allows us to see very subtle differences in tissues to diagnose and treat conditions that we might not otherwise have been able to treat or done so easily,” says Dr. Dobson. “Thank you for all your generous donations. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to function in the same capacity.”
Thanks to donors, six new ECG machines with advanced, wireless technology have been added to PRHC’s fleet. This means that cardiologists can access an ECG from a secure server quickly and on the spot to diagnose heart conditions, especially in urgent situations such as a Code STEMI where diagnosis begins in the ambulance on the way to PRHC’s Cardiac Cath Lab.
PRHC Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Katy Shufelt explains how these new machines are impacting patient care at your hospital:
“Having wireless technology for our ECGs has really advanced care at PRHC. When patients have an ECG, it’s immediately uploaded to a secure server and cardiologists can log on and access that ECG immediately. In the past, that process would have been much slower. And that five or ten minutes more can be the difference for a patient’s life.”
PRHC’s Laboratory Medicine Technicians (pictured) and Dr. Shufelt want to say “thank you” for making such an impact on patient care at your hospital!
If you’d like to make an impact, please donate online, or for more information, please call 705-876-5000.
Photo by Mary Zita Payne.
Dr. Mario Voros is a PRHC Radiologist who’s leading the charge to bring two new, state-of-the-art CT scanners to the hospital. We asked him to tell us about this cutting-edge equipment and how it will improve care for thousands of patients in our region…
What is CT scan technology?
A CT – or computed tomography – scan is a more powerful, dynamic, moving X-Ray. Unlike a traditional 2-dimensional X-Ray, CT scanners create hundreds of incredibly detailed cross-sectional images and 3-dimensional images of a patient’s anatomy. They’re unique because they can display a combination of soft tissue, bones and blood vessels in a single image.
Why are CT scans an important diagnostic tool?
Radiologists call CT the workhorse – or backbone – of the hospital. At PRHC, about 28,000 CT scans are performed each year because they’re crucial to rapidly confirming a diagnosis and beginning lifesaving treatment for many seriously sick or injured patients. We perform a CT scan for patients with head injuries to rule out a brain bleed. We use CT for rapid stroke assessment and to identify blockages or damage in arteries. We image for common issues like kidney stones and appendicitis. We use CT in cancer care. CT helps doctors diagnose fractures and issues related to trauma. A chest CT can even identify some consequences of COVID-19, like pneumonia.
Why does PRHC need new CT equipment?
PRHC’s current CT scanners are more than 12 years old and nearing the end of their lifespan. They must be replaced with new equipment. This is an opportunity to make significant advancements in our critical CT services because the technology has come a long way in a decade. We need the most advanced imaging technology available, so that every doctor at PRHC can do our jobs to the best of our ability.
How will the new CT scanners benefit patients?
The new CT scanners will fit the needs of the hospital now and well into the future. They’re the best available scanners on the market. They’re faster, meaning shorter scan times. This is better for all patients, but especially those in pain or distress. They’ll provide much better-quality images, making it easier for my colleagues and me to see what’s happening inside a patient’s body. And there’s less radiation used during a scan, which means less risk to the patient.
How will donors help make this equipment advancement possible?
The government doesn’t fund most of the technology doctors, nurses and staff use to provide patient care every day. So, we rely on donors to help us invest in equipment that is vital to the world-class care we provide to patients from across our region. It’s donors who make that care possible by giving to the PRHC Foundation to help fund cutting-edge tools, like essential new CT scanners. And at PRHC, we’re all very grateful for that support.
For more information or to support this exciting investment, please click here or call 705-876-5000.
Recently, donor generosity funded the Power System 8, a battery-operated handpiece used for up to 1,300 orthopedic surgeries every year at PRHC.
Used nonstop for elective surgeries as well as with trauma cases such as broken hips, this one handpiece with interchangeable attachments is an essential tool for total joint replacement and helps patients achieve a more active lifestyle without the pain or disability they experienced before surgery. The upgraded handpiece can also be temporarily submerged for increased sterilization, helping reduce the risk of infection for our patients.
Cheryl Richards, PRHC Surgical Suite Assistant, says “Thank you!” to everyone who helped fund this essential piece of equipment. Because of the generosity of PRHC Foundation donors, orthopedic surgery patients are receiving the care they need to recover from their pain and injuries.
If you’d like to make an impact, please donate online, or for more information, please call 705-876-5000.
With cancer patient volumes continuing to rise, delivering individualized, safe patient care is a priority at PRHC’s Cancer Centre. The number of cancer patients doctors…
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Last year at the start of the pandemic, as PRHC’s leaders and staff mobilized to prepare for the spread of COVID-19, the PRHC Foundation and our donors mobilized to support them. A fund was created to respond to urgent pandemic-related needs, and we were overwhelmed with your outpouring of support for your hospital.
A direct mail appeal and generous matching gift commitments inspired community donations. Online donors made tribute gifts in honour of frontline workers and sent messages of thanks to them. Under social distancing restrictions, businesses, organizations and individuals got creative with their own initiatives and directed funds to the cause.
As a result, the COVID-19 response fund had an immediate impact, helping aid and protect healthcare providers and patients. You funded a crucial supply of additional scrubs for staff and physicians, new plexiglass screening stations at hospital entry points, and iPads and supportive equipment so isolated palliative patients can connect with loved ones.
And when Trent University donated residence space as temporary housing so PRHC staff could isolate while working on the front line, your donations funded some of the additional costs necessary in support of this arrangement.
In addition to generous donations to the Foundation, you showed your love for PRHC in many ways: window and lawn signs, chalk drawings, gratitude rocks, drive-through parades, donations of personal protective equipment and homemade masks, and so much more. All of this kindness has been so appreciated.
You’ve demonstrated that we are all in this together. On behalf of everyone at PRHC and the PRHC Foundation, thank you.
If you’d like to make an impact, please donate online, or for more information, please call 705-876-5000.
Thanks to the generosity of donors, the PRHC Foundation has funded state-of-the-art, portable urgent care technology…
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Now more than ever before, we know a health crisis can strike at any time. When it does, we need our hospital to be equipped with state-of-the-art technology to give us the best care possible. So this year, we are particularly grateful for your generous support of Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
Your support is making an incredible difference. Recent investments in areas such as women’s and children’s programs are helping save and change lives every day.
Thanks to donors, a new radiant heater/warmer is in use in PRHC’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where 365 babies were treated last year. For newborn patients who need additional, critical care, the radiant heater/warmer provides open, 360-degree access for all members of the medical team and offers an accessible working surface for ventilating and resuscitating. It takes constant measurements of temperature that the unit itself can respond to, and the unit is adjustable, so family members can be at the same height as the infant and participate in family-centred care.
In this and other areas, your donations are fueling vital investments that are used by our doctors, nurses and staff every day to deliver the outstanding care we all want for the people we love when a health crisis strikes. They’re also bringing innovative new treatment options to our region and helping PRHC attract and retain the best and the brightest healthcare professionals.
On behalf of the Health Centre, the Foundation, and most especially, our patients and their families, thank you for the commitment and generosity you’ve shown to PRHC!
If you’d like to make an impact, please donate online, or for more information, please call 705-876-5000.
