New WLMH’s procedure room means better access, shorter wait times

When our new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital building opens in November, it will include a room especially for procedures not needing a full operating room. The addition of a procedure room means surgeries and procedures will take place in the most appropriate space, wait times will be reduced, and more local patients will receive care at WLMH instead of needing to travel to Hamilton. Anesthesia site lead Dr. Marc Ysselstein and site chief of surgery Dr. Ved Tandan are pictured the procedure room.

When Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) opens our new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital (WLMH) building in November, its many new features will include a room especially for procedures not needing a full operating room.

Two spaces, two purposes

An operating room (OR) and a procedure room are very similar, with a lot of the same equipment. So how are they different?

“Having a procedure room at our new hospital will give us the opportunity to do the right work in the right space.” — Dr. Lara Murphy

ORs are equipped for major surgeries requiring general anesthesia, where the patient is unconscious and their breathing and vital functions are supported. A procedure room is for less invasive procedures where patients breathe on their own. Procedures are typically done with local anesthesia to numb an area of the body, or light sedation.

The current WLMH building has two ORs but no procedure room. As a result, interventions like removing a non-cancerous cyst that only requires numbing, or performing a colonoscopy or IUD insertion with light sedation, take place in an OR.

The addition of a procedure room means surgeries and procedures will take place in the most appropriate space, wait times will be reduced, and more local patients will receive care at WLMH  instead of needing to travel to Hamilton.

“Having a procedure room at our new hospital will give us the opportunity to do the right work in the right space,” says Dr. Lara Murphy, executive director of perioperative services at HHS. “The new hospital will better support West Lincoln’s growing community, as well as provide a better, more efficient work environment for our surgeons and teams.”

Bigger, better space

The new WLMH building will have three ORs, with two up and running when the new hospital building opens in late November. The third will OR be available a year or more later, allowing for further service expansion in the future. The procedure room will be open right away.

Bruce Squires, WLMH site executive

“HHS has among the best surgeons and teams in the country, and their skill sets need to be supported with a modern, state-of-the-art hospital,” says Bruce Squires, site executive for WLMH. “The new WLMH building will be a much better fit for our doctors and teams, with our ORs and procedure room working in tandem for a more streamlined approach to patient care, workflows and efficiency.”

Expanded services

Obstetrician/gynecologists Dr. Andrea Mosher, Dr. Giuliana Guarna, Dr. Emily Landon and Dr. Meena Goel are based at WLMH, and 10 other doctors from HHS’ two largest hospitals, Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre and Hamilton General Hospital, travel to Grimsby on a regular, rotating basis through the Surgeon of the Week (SOTW) program launched five years ago by Dr. Ved Tandan, WLMH’s site chief of surgery.

Through the SOTW program, these general surgeons take turns working one-week stretches at WLMH where they provide consultations for patients in the emergency department, as well as inpatient and outpatient referrals, day surgeries, endoscopy procedures and follow-up care, says Tandan. These surgeons specialize in liver and pancreatic surgery, complex hernia surgery, complex colon and rectal surgery, and breast surgery.

“Our SOTW team is excited to continue their rotations at the new hospital building,” says Tandan.

In addition to the SOTW program, surgeons from other subspecialties come to WLMH to perform outpatient surgical procedures. These include spine surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, dental surgery and plastic surgery.

“HHS has among the best surgeons and teams in the country, and their skill sets need to be supported with a modern, state-of-the-art hospital.” — Bruce Squires, WLMH site executive

This work will continue and expand in the new hospital building, providing doctors serving WLMH with opportunities to expand procedures and surgeries.

Urology procedures added

For example, urology services aren’t currently available at WLMH. But they’ll be offered in the new hospital’s procedure room. Urology services haven’t been offered at WLMH for years, so these patients have been travelling to larger hospital sites in Hamilton.

Urology procedures are typically minor, minimally invasive, and don’t require full general anesthesia. Examples include a cystoscopy, where a scope is used to examine the bladder and urethra, sometimes with minor interventions like removing small stones or taking biopsies. Other examples include vasectomies, and treatment of minor urethral of bladder lesions.

“Many of our patients are older adults,” says clinical manager Amy Ciancio. “Bringing these services back to Grimsby means that our older residents can receive the care they need, close to home at their local hospital.”

“The right space for the right procedure”

WLMH will continue offering endoscopy services, but they’ll take place in the procedure room instead of the OR, where they’re currently performed. Endoscopy is when doctors use a flexible tube with a camera to look inside the body for diagnosis and treatment. Examples include a colonoscopy to examine the colon and rectum or an upper endoscopy to examine the esophagus, stomach and upper small intestine. Endoscopy procedures can be diagnostic, where doctors look for abnormalities, or therapeutic where they remove polyps, take biopsies or perform minor surgeries.

Dr. Andrea Mosher

Some gynecological work will be done in the procedure room, such as IUD insertions where sedation may be needed. “IUD insertion is something that many patients are hesitant about due to discomfort,” says Mosher. “So giving people the choice to have this procedure done under sedation is a wonderful option for patient care.”

Patients can also have small, benign lumps removed by surgeons in the procedure room, not needing a full OR.

The new building opens the door for new, additional surgeries in the ORs as well. For example, simple burns can be treated with plastic surgery, and breast lumps can be removed and sent to a lab to check for cancer.

The building passed a major construction milestone in September called substantial completion, allowing HHS to move in equipment, train staff on site and test systems. Patients are expected to start receiving care in the new hospital on or about Nov. 24.

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