Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay recently completed renovations to create a new operating room as part of its commitment to clear a pandemic-created surgical waitlist by the end of the year, and has already completed a successful total knee replacement in the new operating room.
The hospital received $442,100 in one-time and capital funding through the Ontario Ministry of Health’s Surgical Innovation Fund to complete the renovations, which brings the total number of active operating rooms in the hospital to seven.
Renovations in the operating room included new lighting and an anaesthetic machine, as well as equipment for both general surgery and orthopaedic surgery. The funding also covered the cost of training staff on the new equipment.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges in the delivery of health care, including the ramping down of non-urgent and non-emergent surgeries and procedures,” says Ross Memorial Hospital president and CEO Kelly Isfan in a media release.
“Ross Memorial sincerely appreciates the Ministry of Health making the Surgical Innovation Fund available so that our operating room renovation was possible. The hospital will continue to use every available resource to ensure our community has access to the healthcare services they need.”
In the first year of the pandemic, between April 2020 and March 2021, Ross Memorial Hospital had a total of 5,700 operating room cases.
Dr. Sebastian Heaven, an orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital, performed the first procedure in the newly renovated operating room on March 17th. He and his surgical team completed a successful total knee replacement surgery on patient Georgina Lawrence.
“Our newly renovated operating room will substantially increase Ross Memorial’s capacity to perform surgeries and procedures for patients within our community,” says Jennifer Burns-West, the hospital’s director of surgery, obstetrics, pharmacy, dialysis, Health First, and surgical obstetrics and pharmacy.
“Our team is determined and working diligently to clear our surgical waitlist by the end of 2022.”
