‘Massive difference’: Victoria Hospital to replace decade-old equipment

A surgical suite at the Victoria Hospital is scheduled to get an upgrade this summer.

The Victoria Hospital Foundation has raised $450,000 for technological improvements to one of seven suites the hospital uses for day surgeries. The new gear will replace 10- to 15-year-old equipment that is currently in use in the suite, and will include new monitors.

The new equipment is scheduled to be installed in August.

“If you were to walk into here (afterward), it’s not going to look all that different… but for those of us that are using the equipment every day, it will be a massive difference,” said Chris Andrew, surgical site lead at the hospital.

He likened it to upgrading from an early high-definition TV to a TV with 4K resolution. The upgrades will lead to more efficient surgeries, safer surgeries and better patient outcomes, he said.

Physicians at Victoria Hospital perform more than 6,000 endoscopies and more than 7,000 day surgeries annually, Andrew said.

The two most common subspecialties that will use the new equipment are general surgery, such as gallbladder surgery, hernia surgery and weight loss surgery, and gynecology, specifically laparoscopic hysterectomies.

The Victoria Hospital Foundation is raising an additional $2 million to renovate the hospital’s remaining surgical suites. The upgrades will allow hospital staff to use and move equipment more easily, and it will allow them to move around the suites more freely.

“The other part that would be an advantage to this is you always want to upgrade your technology to the newest and best technology if you want to attract the best and newest surgeons into your particular facility,” said Andrew, who has been a surgeon for more than two decades.

“I think we’ve done a good job over the years. We’ve tried to (attract) excellent staff and that’s something we want to continue.”

The amount of money the foundation raises each year depends on the projects it’s working on, said Bryton Moen, board chairperson.

“We’re hoping that this is a project that south Winnipeg and Winnipeg as a whole — and really the province as a whole — can really rally behind and donate (toward),” Moen said.

“We’re really excited to help advance health care in Manitoba and look forward to seeing the results of this project for patient outcomes.”

Another upcoming development at the hospital is the construction of a new emergency room, which will begin this year, Moen noted.

The Victoria Hospital emergency room was closed in 2017 as part of restructuring by the previous Progressive Conservative government. The NDP has said construction of a new ER would begin this year and open in 2027.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca