SAH awaits approval for cardiac care procedure

Sault Area Hospital is waiting to hear from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care in regards to its proposal to have angioplasty procedures performed locally.

"We're optimistic we've made our case in terms of doing angioplasty efficiently, effectively and safely," said Mario Paluzzi, SAH director of communications and public affairs.

"Our hospital was designed with that (space for angioplasty procedures) in mind, the space is identified and it's there." 

Angioplasty, officially known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is a procedure in which a catheter is used on a cardiac patient to insert a stent to open up clogged blood vessels in the heart.

Angioplasty follows an exploratory procedure known as an angiogram, which determines if a patient needs an angioplasty.

SAH currently performs about 850 angiograms annually, and angioplasty procedures, if deemed necessary by doctors, would take only a few extra minutes after an angiogram is performed.

As things stand now, only angiograms are performed at SAH, and if angioplasty is needed, patients must travel to hospitals in Sudbury or Toronto to have the procedure done. 

Authorization to perform angioplasty procedures at SAH must come from the Ministry of Health.

"The proposal has been heartily endorsed by the Northeast LHIN (Local Health Integration Network)," Paluzzi said.

"Having angioplasty services offered at Sault Area Hospital would be a game changer."

"It would be similar to what happened when we were able to offer radiation services locally for our cancer patients after opening the new hospital."

"People wouldn't have to travel to hospital in Sudbury or Toronto to have the angioplasty done," Paluzzi said.

"This would be a big benefit to our patients and their families…it may require some hospitalization but you don't have to leave town and put up with the stress and leave your support systems, your family."

"From the province's point of view that means providing patient care closer to home, which is a key mandate for them," Paluzzi said.

"Travel costs (for Northern Ontario Travel Grants and air ambulance trips) would be eliminated, and the cost of hospital beds while patients are waiting to be transferred."

The SAH proposal for angioplasty procedures to be done locally was first endorsed by the Northeast LHIN, then went to the Cardiac Care Network (CCN) of Ontario, an organization that works with the Ministry of Health to provide cardiac services across the province.

"They do a very comprehensive in-depth review of our proposal, and it takes quite a bit of time for them to go through this, then once they do that it's their recommendation that's shared with both us and the ministry," Paluzzi said.

"They (CCN and the province) want to make certain there's enough volume so that the people carrying out this procedure are doing enough of these to maintain their skills…if they don't feel there is enough demand, that the caregivers are able to practice these procedures enough to hone those skills and keep them top notch, that becomes an issue."

"We certainly believe there is enough demand in our proposal…if we didn't think it made sense we wouldn't have made this proposal, and the Northeast LHIN supports us, so we're optimistic," Paluzzi said.  

The Ministry of Health will make the final decision on SAH angioplasty after it reviews CCN's report, which is still being compiled.

Officials from CCN, including CEO Kori Kingsbury, addressed the SAH board of directors this week. 

"Our role is to look at the quality of cardiac care across the province, so whenever a new cardiac service is being contemplated we have opportunity to review those proposals to see if they're aligned with accepted standards for cardiac care," Kingsbury told SooToday.

"We have several criteria but first and foremost is how much access there is to cardiac care in a geographic region, and we look for support for a proposal from the region's LHIN."

Kingsbury did not say when SAH may expect a decision on its angioplasty proposal.

"We're still in the process of doing the review, but we're certainly hoping to have it done in the near future."