The Best Care for Life campaign at work
Because MUHC patients deserve exceptional care as they await the completion of the new facilities at the Glen and Mountain campuses, $100 million of the campaign’s $300-million objective has been allocated for important construction and renovation projects across the current sites. With little fanfare a wide range of projects have been completed or are underway throughout the MUHC that are making an immediate and tangible difference to the quality of service patients receive. To highlight some of these exciting changes, we sent our photographer across the MUHC to document just a few of the ways the Best Care for Life campaign, a partnership of the foundations of the MUHC, is improving the lives of patients right now, even as it helps the MUHC build for the future.
New Telehealth Facilities
The Montreal Children’s Hospital
of the MUHC
Thanks to a generous gift to the campaign from Bell Canada, the Children’s has purchased new telehealth technologies that are enabling surgeons in the operating room to exchange real-time information with pathologists in a telehealth consultation room. “The ability to communicate voice and images in real-time to pathologists is a great plus,” says Dr. Jean-Martin Laberge. “We often require their input during procedures, and now pathologists can see everything in the operating field without people or materials having to leave the sterile OR environment.”
New Magnetic Resonance
Imaging Scanner
Montreal Neurological Institute
and Hospital
Campaign donations have allowed the MUHC to purchase an additional magnetic resonance imaging scanner (MRI) to aid in the diagnosis of patients. Using a magnetic field and radio waves, an MRI creates detailed images that allow the MUHC’s neurologists to diagnose defects of the brain and spinal cord that other technologies might not reveal.
New Angiography and
Catheterization Lab
Montreal Children’s Hospital
of the MUHC
Already internationally recognized for its pioneering cardiology and cardiac surgery programs, the Children’s has opened a new heart catheterization andangiography suite equipped with the very latest technology. “The new Angio suite is great,” says Dr. Adrian Dancea, a pediatric cardiologist at the Children’s. “It allows us to be more accurate when diagnosing and repairing heart problems such as congenital heart defects. When you consider that the heart of a newborn is the size of an egg, any piece of equipment that improves accuracy means better outcomes for our tiny patients.”
New Gynecology In-Patient Unit
Royal Victoria Hospital site
Thanks to campaign donations, the fifth floor of the Women’s Pavilion has been expanded and modernized to create a more comfortable and infection-resistant environment for patients and their visitors and to enhance the teaching facilities. In a precursor to the creation of a comprehensive Women’s Health Centre at the Glen, the larger space has allowed for the consolidation of all in-patient gynecology services at the MUHC at the Women’s Pavilion. “Combining the facilities [formerly at the General and the Vic] is great for the staff. With a single unit dedicated to gynecology and gynecology/oncology, everyone can share knowledge and really develop their expertise,” says Carmen Caulfield, Planner for Organizational and Physical Programming at the Royal Victoria site.
Renovations to the Intensive Care Unit
Montreal Chest Institute site
Campaign funds have allowed the Chest Institute to undertake a critical renovation to its intensive care unit. Formerly a completely open ward, the unit is being entirely rebuilt with single patient rooms, an upgraded ventilation system to improve infection control, and an expanded nursing station to allow staff to interact more comfortably and efficiently. “For these vulnerable respiratory patients, avoiding infections is absolutely critical,” says Chantal Souligny, Nursing Co-ordinator at the Chest. “The new facilities will bring us up to the highest standards of safety and air quality.”
New Catheterization Lab
Royal Victoria Hospital site
For MUHC cardiologists and their patients, the new cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention centre–cath lab, for short– is making the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease more efficient and effective than ever. “The cardiac catheterization lab allows us to perform state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment of artherosclerosis of coronary arteries, which is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in Canada,” explains Dr. Jacques Genest, MUHC Director of Cardiology. “The campaign has given us an important new tool in the fight against heart disease.”
Upgrades to the Emergency Department
Montreal General Hospital site
With the help of campaign funds the ER at the General was expanded and reorganized to include a new short-stay unit, additional isolation rooms for better control of infectious diseases, a new ambulance entrance, improved psychiatric facilities and an expanded waiting room. “The fully modernized ER is enabling ER specialists to provide more rapid diagnosis and treatment to our patients,” says Dr. Marc Beique, Director of the MUHC Adult Emergency Department, “which is especially important for a Level I trauma centre like ours.”
