After years of planning and collection of funds, a new pelvic health suite was opened at the Dartmouth General Hospital, carrying some urology and gynecology procedures under the same roof with the hope of reducing waiting times and improving efficiency.
Deanne Reeve Pelvic Health Suite is the first of its kind in the Atlantic of Canada and will provide a dedicated space to carry out certain procedures that are currently carried out in operating rooms, releasing space for more complex surgeries.
“It makes a lot of sense to get the appropriate procedures outside the operating room, outside other areas to optimize scarce resources and create efficiency,” said Dr. Scott Mawdsley, head of the surgery site at Dartmouth General Hospital.
“In addition, it is a much better experience for the patient.”
Hysteroscopies, a minimally invasive procedure to examine the uterus with a thin camera, will be carried out within the suite two days a week. The cystoscopies, a procedure to examine the bladder and urethra with a flexible camera, will be held three days a week.
Mawdsley said that the hysteroscopy space and the latest generation equipment allow the patient to continue as the procedure occurs. Nurses are trained in procedural sedation, which means that the patient may feel comfortable, but remain aware so that they can observe the interior of their uterus in real time.
Common symptoms that would take a patient to the clinic for hysteroscopy include abnormal bleeding, fibroids and polyps.
“Often, as you are doing the procedure, you can explain to the patient what you are seeing, what is the problem. If you see something significant, you can often treat it at the same time, which is really important,” Mawdsley said during a tour of the media of the new clinic.
“Then, for the patient, it means that they can enter an appointment of the outpatient clinic and, often, be diagnosed and treated the same day compared to what is currently happening: it can be a one -week or a month process with a lot of anxiety involved.”
Maggie Archibald is someone who knows that anxiety.
It was erroneously diagnosed with an urinary tract infection by a clinic doctor in 2020 before finally ending at the Dartmouth hospital, where they confirmed through an ultrasound that had a renal stone.
She has suffered waiting times to deal with her health problems.
“I think that comes with our medical care system, unfortunately,” said Archibald. “So this suite will change the lives of so many men, women and gender people who are experiencing problems with their pelvic health.”
Dr. Jon Dupplisea was the doctor who eliminated Archibald’s renal stone. He said that the pelvic health suite drastically increases the space it has to work, improving the quality of care and allowing the hospital to attract new urologists.
He said they used to perform approximately 80 cystoscopies per month, but now they have the ability to carry out 75 per week.
“The number of people we reach will increase significantly, which means that we can reach people faster in the waiting list,” Dupplisea said.
Mawdsley said that the so -called New Scotland Innovation Center Health, a research center that aims to modernize and improve medical care in the province, will study the success of the suite and if similar hybrid clinics must be established in the hospitals of the province.
The suite was largely funded through donations. The Orchid gala, a fund collection group focused on women’s health, raised $ 250,000, which was matched by Halifax Rob Steele businessman for a total of $ 500,000.
There were also donations of medical equipment and funds through the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation. Continuous operating costs are being financed by the province.
The suite is named after Deanne Reeve, who died of cervical cancer in 2020 at the age of 60.
The co -founder of Orchid Gala, Liz Rigney, was 30 -year -old Reeve’s friend. She said that the suite is more than two years in development, and she and co -founder Sheri Morgan have made her mission improve access to medical care for women through fundraising initiatives.
“We have discovered that no one is talking about women’s health. No one is talking about the conditions suffered by women. People are afraid to say the word V – vagina,” Rigney said.
“We are saying, we stop that. Let’s make the conversation in our homes and in the public and make some changes and let both men and women realize that they have a role to play to ensure that women get their best as possible.”
Reeve would have been shy about his portrait that greeted patients outside the pelvic health clinic, Rigney said.
“She was not that person. He spent her life raising others and helping others to achieve her potential,” he said.
“It is a bit appropriate now that we are doing everything possible to help show the world what a great person she was.”
