Thanks to philanthropy, the first Hybrid Operating Room (OR) at Vancouver General Hospital is now complete. The Hybrid OR was made possible through the philanthropic leadership of the Leon Judah Blackmore Foundation and donors like Angus and Margaret Reid Family Foundation, Bob and Lily Lee, Alice Chung, John Tognetti, Jason and Emily Ko (Viva Pharmaceutical), Ian Gillespie (Westbank), and the Vascular, Trauma and Cardiovascular surgeons at VGH who all contributed to the Future of Surgery campaign. The $8.1 million fundraising drive for the Hybrid OR represents the first phase of the campaign.
By bringing together advanced imaging and surgical equipment into the same room, surgeons can quickly switch gears during complex surgeries. For example, surgeons might fix a ruptured artery in the chest with a stent and deal with a traumatic abdominal injury. This “one-stop shop” for surgery will revolutionize surgical care and better support minimally invasive image-guided procedures as well as complex surgeries.
The VGH Hybrid OR will serve a wide variety of patients, including those with blocked arteries and veins and aortic aneurysms. Trauma patients will also benefit from the head-to-toe imaging at the surgical table, saving critical time when life is hanging in the balance. Patients won’t have to be transferred back and forth between radiology and the OR because the hybrid OR has all the right tools in the same room. From a patient perspective, the result is less invasive surgery, less scarring, shorter hospital stays and faster recovery time, says Dr. Keith Baxter, Vascular and Endovascular Surgeon, Vancouver Coastal Health.
The completion of the Hybrid OR is just one part of the Foundation’s multi-year initiative that will enable VGH to focus on the most complex surgery cases with scheduled operations being performed at UBC Hospital. The Future of Surgery campaign includes a renewal at UBC Hospital and collaboration between the two hospital sites to enhance efficiency and, most importantly, to improve patient outcomes.http://ivanchanphotography.com/ivanchanphotography.com/wp-content/wp-html5/360virtualtour/360-vch-operating-room
