McMaster school thrives in Niagara
Create a better way
KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- GNG Site surgeons launch new training program – An innovative way for surgeons to learn new ways to perform laparoscopic or keyhole surgery began in 2009. The Ontario Telemedicine Network is a high-tech fibre-optic system that connects healthcare partners, and through the audio/video feed, surgeons at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton linked directly with the OR at Greater Niagara General Site during a bowel resection surgery to advise and mentor on new surgical techniques.
- New Laboratory technology – Niagara Health was the first hospital system in Canada to install the Vitros 5600, new laboratory equipment that allows lab staff to speed up the testing process. It holds over 100 samples at a time and eliminates the need to split or move samples manually between instruments. Another benefit is that smaller blood samples can be used. The new equipment performs 90% of tests typically needed in a hospital laboratory, is twice as fast as its predecessor, and is in service at Greater Niagara, St. Catharines General and Welland sites. The three instruments were a no-cost upgrade to existing equipment.
- New technology for breast exams – Installed in fall 2009, a new digital mammography unit at St. Catharines General Site replaces traditional film mammograms, and provides breast images with outstanding clarity and contrast. The technology is integrated into the regional image archive system so radiologists, surgeons and other specialists can access it from hospital or physician office computers. The $800,000 diagnostic equipment was made possible by a number of fundraising events by the St. Catharines General Hospital Foundation.
- Timely care in new Urgent Care Centres – Improving treatment time for patients in ERs and Urgent Care Centres is a province-wide struggle. In Niagara, the new Urgent Care Centres in Port Colborne and Douglas Memorial sites have been in operation since 2009 and are averaging treatment times of under three hours for patients with minor ailments, similar to the treatment time at the Urgent Care Centre in St. Catharines’ Ontario Street Site. Compared to six to eight hours for minor ailments in an ER, Urgent Care Centres are the place to go for timely care.
An expanding partnership with McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote Medical School means a new way to encourage physicians to live and practice in Niagara.
The Niagara Regional Campus, centred at St. Catharines General Site, opened in 2008, and last year, family medicine post-graduate training expanded for the first time. It now includes residents who have their three-year medical degree and are moving into two years of residency in family medicine. For these students, classroom study is minimal, and they work and study in the hospital environment and in physician offices. The residency period varies, from two years for family medicine to six years for a sub-specialty such as vascular surgery.
This is a win-win for everyone – a teaching environment is of benefit not only to patients, but to hospital staff, medical colleagues, students, and ultimately the community, says Dr. Karl Stobbe, Regional Assistant Dean for the Niagara Campus. “When hospitals become teaching campuses for medical students, the calibre of healthcare increases.” The students’ training experiences at every NHS site should prove fertile ground when they graduate and decide where to set up practice. «
NHS Registered Orthopedic Technician Ron French and Registered Practical Nurse Patti Abbott demonstrate a casting procedure for second-year medical students, in background, from left, David Heywood, Jeff Bacher, Robin Visser and Jorin Lukings. Photo by Chris Henderson, McMaster University
