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Health Foundation: Improving cardiac care keeps patients closer to home

Red Deer Advocate - 2/7/2018

It hasn't taken long for the Transesophageal Echo machine to make an impact in the lives of cardiology patients living in Central Alberta.

Since officially going online at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre (RDRHC) on September 25 approximately 20 patients have undergone procedures utilizing the TEE machine (as it is more commonly known). It was purchased for $250,000 using funds from a $750,000 anonymous donation the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation received two years ago.

While it arrived in RDRHC's Cardiac Department earlier this year, the addition of this piece of specialized equipment required extensive renovations, training, and IT upgrades before it was ready to see patients.

The TEE machine allows doctors to identify problems in the heart's structure and function by taking an ultrasound from within the body. It can provide clearer images of the upper chambers of the heart and the valves between the upper and lower chambers than what can be captured currently by standard echocardiograms.

Lacombe resident Rod Turnbull was one of those first patients to undergo the procedure in Red Deer.

His cardiologist, Dr. Stephen Tilley, had recommended he undergo the procedure as a follow-up to an appointment Rod had earlier in the year.

At first, Rod worried about the added stress that would come with driving up to Edmonton for the procedure.

And that was on top of the worry that he could be turned away if the TEE machines in Edmonton and Calgary were running at full capacity.

Dr. Tilley told Rod that a TEE machine would be coming online in the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre's Cardiology department this fall, a fact that would play a large role in Rod's decision to go through with the test.

"More than likely I wouldn't have been interested (if I had to go to Edmonton)," he recently told the Foundation.

Given Rod's family history of cardiac problems – his father had passed away when a piece of plaque came loose in his heart and lodged in his aorta – Dr. Tilley felt it was important for Rod to undergo the test.

"What this test did for us was give us piece of mind," Rod's wife, Laverne, added. "Dr. Tilley said (Rod's heart) is not quite functioning as it should, but it's not of grave concern at this time. But we need to keep an eye on it."

For Vera Krause, the Manager of Cardiac Sciences at RDRHC, and Kelly Lehmann, the Director of Cardiac Services, the TEE Machine has quickly proven to be an invaluable tool that allows RDRHC to link seamlessly with other cardiac centres in Alberta.

It has also positioned the region for growth through the attraction of additional expertise to the area in the future.

For patients, it means quicker access to a plan of care and the answers they require, as well as less stress since both travel and wait times are significantly reduced.

All this thanks to one generous donation.

Iaian Park is the executive director of the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation.

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