As a Level 2 Vascular Centre, PRHC should already have a hybrid OR according to Ontario Health standards, CEO tells Pre-Budget Consultation

Peterborough, ON – Peterborough Regional Health Centre urgently needs a hybrid operating room.

This is the message delivered by Dr. Lynn Mikula, PRHC’s President & CEO, at the provincial Pre-Budget Consultation held in Peterborough on Friday, December 5.

As one of the busiest Level 2 Vascular Centres in the province, Dr. Mikula said the hospital has been waiting for years to receive approval and $10M in funding needed to build a hybrid operating room.

“We do more than 1000 vascular procedures each year, and nearly three-quarters of our patients come from outside of Peterborough City and County,” said Dr. Mikula. “But our vascular operating room is not properly equipped. According to standards set by Ontario Health, we need a hybrid operating room.”

In 2017, PRHC identified the construction of a hybrid operating room as a key priority for the 600,000 patients it serves across the region, as far north as Haliburton, south to Northumberland, east to Quinte and West to Durham. In 2019, the hospital began selffunded construction to create space for several regional program expansions, including the hybrid operating room – an investment of $21M into some of its busiest and fastest-growing services.

Today, this space continues to sit empty. On Friday, Dr. Mikula raised alarms about how long it has taken to bring the hybrid operating room to the region.

“We’re still unable to provide the appropriate level of care for a Level 2 Vascular Centre, meaning we need to send more complex patients further from home to get the care they need,” said Dr. Mikula. “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.”

Dr. Mikula pointed out that today’s surgeons train in hybrid operating rooms, so the longer PRHC goes without one, the more challenging it becomes to recruit new physicians, and to retain the physicians already at the hospital.

She also noted that the community has been waiting to see this project move ahead – including donors through the PRHC Foundation, who have committed to raising $6M toward the project as part of the $70M Campaign for PRHC.

MPP Dave Smith, who was in attendance for the committee proceedings on Friday, noted that establishing a hybrid operating room at PRHC requires a comparatively small investment by the Ministry of Health, as the space and the equipment are already funded by the hospital and the PRHC Foundation.

“We believe that in the context of hospital capital projects, which now tend to run into the billions of dollars, that a $10M ask would be a huge win for a relatively very small price tag,” said Dr. Mikula.

The vascular procedures performed in a hybrid operating room are often emergency procedures and can be complex. Vascular surgeons also perform procedures essential to the cancer care, dialysis and cardiac programs at the hospital. Care is time-sensitive, often requiring multiple surgeries. A hybrid OR allows specialized teams to perform multiple open and minimally-invasive procedures on the same patient, on the same day, in the same room.

“Patients want to know: ‘Can you do it all today? Can you fix what’s wrong in one procedure? Can I avoid another operation, another hospital stay, another anxious wait?’,” said Dr. Mikula on behalf of Dr. Sajjid Hossain, a vascular surgeon at PRHC who joined the proceedings virtually. “The technology to address multiple vascular issues in one surgery exists: it is a hybrid OR, which will bring care closer to home, and help patients avoid life-threatening waits, difficult transfers, multiple surgeries, and the increased risk that comes with all of these things.

“This investment will yield a huge leap forward in vascular care for our patients, and it’s what my colleagues and I need to do our job to the best of our abilities. It will help us save lives.”