The innovative technology of a donor-funded hybrid OR isn’t optional, it’s essential

As a Level 2 vascular centre serving a regional population of 600,000, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is ready to raise its level of excellence in vascular care with a state-of-the-art hybrid operating room (OR). It’s a $6 million priority of the Campaign for PRHC that’s essential to patient care and donors can help bring it to our hospital.

Vascular disease is the leading cause of preventable death and disability in Canada. Patients often face multiple serious conditions at once, requiring complex, time-sensitive care. Each year, experts at PRHC perform more than 1,000 vascular procedures, with nearly three-quarters of patients travelling from outside Peterborough City and County to receive care at PRHC. For these patients and their families, timely access to advanced surgical care close to home is vital—preventing strokes and loss of limbs.

Now, patients who need multiple vascular procedures undergo each one and its recovery separately. If there will be a need for real-time medical imaging during surgery, the range of procedures that can be performed is limited due to the image quality of the current onsite diagnostic tools. This results in patients being referred to other hospitals where they’ll wait longer to receive the care they need.

An alternative exists: A hybrid OR combines a fully equipped surgical suite with advanced medical imaging in one, bigger space. There, specialized teams can perform multiple open and minimally invasive procedures in one surgical session with access to high resolution imaging. But PRHC is one of only a handful of Ontario’s Level 2 vascular centres without a hybrid OR. When having one is the standard of care, not having it means challenges recruiting surgeons who’ve trained on the technology and sending patients elsewhere for care, putting patients and PRHC’s vascular program at risk.

“In medical school I had access to a hybrid OR. It allows me to operate on patients safely, with extreme precision,” says Dr. Sajjid Hossain, PRHC vascular surgeon. “In vascular surgery, technology isn’t optional. It’s essential to care. A lot of the time patients come to us in life-threatening scenarios where minutes matter. Being able to access state-of-the-art imaging and advanced technologies is a difference between saving a life, saving a limb, or losing both. This is what vascular surgery should be.”

PRHC agrees and has self-funded the creation of the space in the hospital building to enable the hybrid OR. The PRHC Foundation is committed to raising the $6 million needed to outfit the space with its cutting-edge equipment.

“A hybrid OR is vital for the future of patient care at PRHC,” says Lesley Heighway, PRHC Foundation President & CEO. “Donor support will ensure patients from across our region can receive their lifesaving care close to home.” A hybrid OR will also help reduce patient wait times and help treat more patients, safely and efficiently, with better results. 

For Dr. Hossain and PRHC, the need is clear. But he realizes it can’t be resolved without support from generous donors. “When I came to Peterborough, I learned that crucial equipment and technology is funded by donors. That was eye-opening. Since then I’ve been regularly surprised and touched by the generosity of this community,” says Dr. Hossain. “People here really stand behind their healthcare professionals. Thank you so much.”

For more information or to donate, please call 705-876-5000 or click here.

Heart of Healthcare – Episode 7: Donor generosity is helping draw the best and brightest to PRHC

Meet Dr. Sajjid Hossain and Dr. Mary Lu, a physician couple who chose Peterborough as the place to raise their family while growing their careers and caring for patients at Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

In Episode 7 of Heart of Healthcare, PRHC Foundation President & CEO, Lesley Heighway, sits down with Dr. Hossain and Dr. Lu to talk about what brought them to Peterborough, the meaningful work they do each day, and the vital role donor support plays in funding state-of-the-art equipment and recruiting top physicians. From managing family time to managing complex medical cases, they’re grateful for all the ways their supportive community stands behind them.

Watch the full episode to see how these doctors – with the help of donors – are shaping the future of healthcare at PRHC.

This video, along with past episodes of Heart of Healthcare, are available through the PRHC Foundation’s social media and Vimeo channels. Watch them for inspiring conversations filled with compassion, resilience, and innovation. You can also subscribe to receive each new episode plus Foundation news and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.

“If PRHC had a hybrid OR, both of my surgeries could have been done in one day.”

Grateful PRHC vascular care patient and PRHC Foundation donor Mike Leach tells his patient story with the hope that you’ll donate to bring a hybrid operating room to Peterborough Regional Health Centre…

“I’m Mike Leach, and I wouldn’t be here today without PRHC and PRHC Foundation donors.

For a long time, I ignored it. My legs felt heavy. My calves cramped like bricks. Even walking short distances was exhausting.

What started as a small blister turned into a serious diabetic ulcer. I was told that without surgery, I could lose my foot.

At PRHC, my vascular surgeon Dr. Sajjid Hossain performed two separate procedures to restore blood flow in my legs: one to place a stent and another to open blocked arteries. Both surgeries worked, but they had to be done separately.

Two surgeries. Two recoveries. Twice the risk.  

If PRHC had a hybrid operating room, both procedures could have been done at the same time, in the same room, with less risk and a faster recovery.

That’s why I’m asking for your help today.

Your gift will help bring a state-of-the-art hybrid OR to PRHC. With a hybrid OR, procedures will take less time. Patients will face fewer complications and recover faster. And advanced imaging will help experts like Dr. Hossain be even more precise, spotting and managing complications right away, while keeping patients like me close to home.

Thanks to PRHC and donors, I got my independence back. I can work, garden (even if weeds are the only thing I seem to grow), and tinker in the garage. None of this would have been possible without this hospital, or the lifesaving equipment past generosity has supported.

That’s why your support matters so much. Because without your crucial investments in cutting-edge equipment, patients like me could lose more than mobility, we could lose our independence, our livelihoods, even our lives.

Your gift today will help build a hybrid operating room that will transform care for patients like me, reducing risk, shortening recovery, and giving more people in our region the chance to keep living life to the fullest. Especially since the government doesn’t fund hospital equipment. Your generosity is the only way to bring this lifesaving technology to PRHC, and to patients like me.

Thank you.”

To join Mike in donating in support of a hybrid OR, please click here.

Hybrid Operating Room

A state-of-the-art hybrid operating room combines the strengths of a classic operating room and an interventional radiology suite. There, specialized clinical teams can perform multiple open and minimally invasive operations on the same patients, on the same day, in the same room. Revolutionizing vascular care, this investment will result in safer and more seamless, comfortable and cost-effective care, with better patient outcomes: less pain and complications, shorter hospital stays and rehabilitation – ideal for frail vascular patients.

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