August 24, 2015
Story by Kerri Robins; photo by Shawna Jenkins
This town is living up to its nickname as the ‘Heart of Alberta’ as the Stettler Health Services Foundation’s An Affair for the Heart campaign gains momentum.
Dr. Pieter Bouwer, anesthetist and family physician at the Heartland Medical Clinic and Stettler Hospital and Care Centre, says he’s happy with the campaign and the hard work of the foundation.
“We’ve been fortunate to have upgrades and add-ons to our operating room (OR) because of the fundraising and support from our community,” says Bouwer.
“An Affair for the Heart campaign kicked off last October with a gala dinner and a goal of $1 million for a number of projects: upgrades to the operating rooms, labour and delivery rooms, emergency and trauma rooms and a small renovation to the lab and diagnostic area.
The foundation decided it would spend the money as it was raised and, last December, raised the $377,350 needed for the first upgrades to the OR. They included new Stryker operating room lights, along with laparoscopy and endoscopy equipment, and a new high-definition monitor. The upgrades were installed earlier this year.
“We now have new longer-lasting LED lights in our OR that are nice and bright and won’t burn out right away, but rather start fading, letting us know when they need replacing,” says Bouwer.
“The lights are a vast improvement over the old ones and are mounted on arms instead of tracks that provide precision placement with no movement while we’re in surgery.”
The lights are joined by state-of-the-art endoscopy and laparoscopy equipment. The hospital performs colonoscopies, gastroscopies and laparoscopies — and the new equipment is proving its worth.
“We perform roughly 28 ‘scopes’ a month and the new equipment is attracting visiting physicians from surrounding communities — for example, Drumheller — who help provide services for our local residents,” says Bouwer.
“Both the gastroscopic and the laparoscopic equipment are great diagnostic and screening tools which allow us to diagnose a number of different conditions. We can diagnose colon cancer, colon polyps, inflammatory bowel disease, peptic ulcers, hernias and stomach and/or colon bleeding. And we can remove tumours and polyps during the procedure, if need be.”
Endoscopy equipment relies upon thin flexible tubing, tipped with a small camera, that’s inserted through the patient’s mouth or rectum. The gastroscope is used to examine the esophagus, the interior of the stomach and the duodenum —the very top of the small intestine.
The colonoscope examines the entire colon. While the tubing may be similar in style and material, separate tubing is used specific to the area the doctor is interested in seeing.
With laparoscopies, the patient is sedated and up to three small incisions are made in the abdomen. Using tools and a camera, the surgeon can ‘see’ the patient’s abdominal cavity on a monitor that provides crisp, clear, high-definition images and, if necessary, perform biopsies and remove growths.
And the benefits of this equipment don’t stop.
“Not only is the new equipment wireless, it helps physicians work more precisely, so incisions are small, and the risk of infection is reduced,” says Bouwer. “Patients can return to light work in about one to two weeks – about four weeks earlier than with open surgery.”
As well, he says the equipment means patients can remain in their community for procedures.
“It’s a great benefit to stay home for procedures because travel is not only costly, it takes patients away from home and family at a time when they need them most,” he says.
Stettler is located 100 km east of Red Deer.
Leona Thorogood, Chair of the Stettler Health Services Foundation, praises the community support.
“Our community members and business leaders are committed to supporting local health care and I’m proud to be part of such a caring community of people,” says Thorogood.
And this affair isn’t over yet — next up is fundraising for upgrades to the labour and delivery rooms at the hospital.
For more information, please visit stettlerhealthfoundation.com.
