A new cardiac surgery clinic is being established by Windsor Regional Hospital.
About 400 patients currently travel to London for care each year and this clinic at the hospital's Ouellette Campus could save many of them multiple trips down Hwy. 401 for pre and post operative assessments.
Hospital CEO David Musyj says surgeries would still be performed in London, but with an acute care facility potentially on the horizon in Windsor-Essex, this is another step in the right direction.
"We've got to think big. We've got to think about the future. It's not crazy to think about [surgeries one day being performed in Windsor], but we can't promise that and we're not going to promise that," he explains. "But if you don't work towards that, you will never get there."
Chair of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at the London Health Sciences Centre Dr. Bob Kiaii says he and about four physicians are interested in working at the new clinic.
"This is a process that we think will not only result in better patient care and improvement of patient-centred care, but also increase the collaborations we have with the divisional cardiology in Windsor," says Dr. Kiaii.
Musyj says this clinic would be another "game changer" for cardiac care in Windsor-Essex, to go along with the recent 24/7 cardiac program expansion, new cath tables and the Schulich School of Medicine setting up a campus in Windsor.
