Photo courtesy of PRHC
Peterborough Regional Health Centre is again calling on the province to approve and fund a long-promised hybrid operating room, warning that delays are putting patients at risk and threatening the future of its vascular program.
PRHC president and CEO Dr. Lynn Mikula delivered the message Friday during Ontario’s Pre-Budget Consultation in Peterborough, stressing the hospital needs $10 million in provincial funding to activate the project.
“We do more than 1,000 vascular procedures each year, and nearly three-quarters of our patients come from outside of Peterborough City and County,” Mikula told the committee. “But our vascular operating room is not properly equipped. According to standards set by Ontario Health, we need a hybrid operating room.”
The hospital identified the need in 2017 for the more than 600,000 residents it serves across Haliburton, Northumberland, Quinte and Durham. In 2019, PRHC spent $21 million of its own funds to build space for several program expansions, including a hybrid OR — but the space remains empty awaiting provincial approval.
The delay, Mikula said, forces the hospital to divert patients. “Last year alone, nearly 200 patients were sent to other centres for procedures we should have been able to do at PRHC. This puts our patients and our vascular program at risk.”
She also warned that recruiting and retaining surgeons has become more difficult because modern vascular training relies on hybrid operating rooms. Community donors, meanwhile, are waiting to see progress after committing $6 million through the PRHC Foundation toward the project as part of the $70-million Campaign for PRHC.
Local MPP Dave Smith noted the province’s investment would be relatively small, with the hospital and foundation already funding the space and equipment.
“In the context of hospital capital projects, which now tend to run into the billions of dollars, a $10-million ask would be a huge win for a relatively small price tag,” Mikula said.
Hybrid ORs allow teams to perform complex open and minimally invasive procedures in the same room, often on the same day — a critical tool for time-sensitive vascular, cancer, cardiac and dialysis patients.
“Patients want to know: ‘Can you do it all today? Can I avoid another operation, another hospital stay, another anxious wait?’” Mikula said on behalf of vascular surgeon Dr. Sajjid Hossain. “The technology exists. It will bring care closer to home and help patients avoid life-threatening waits and difficult transfers.
“This investment will yield a huge leap forward in vascular care for our patients — and it will help us save lives.”
(Written by: Jordan Mercier)
