I would like to ask a few questions that I have been unable to get answered recently. Why is our health in the north second to the rest of BC? I understand our geographical challenges, but with Prince George as our northern hub I ask myself about the possibility of a cath lab here.
The common reply I receive when chatting about this is in regards to on site surgical capabilities for emergency coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG). The American Heart Association has come out with stats and recommendations for cath labs without surgery, showing no difference in mortality in labs without onsite surgical capabilities.
Cost is obviously the other factor involved in this discussion. I was wondering what the statistics show, and if they include the cost of flying someone down south, the lifetime cost of a patient who has had to wait several days before intervention and now has comorbidities that will have to be managed for the rest of his life, and the resulting costs of other patients who are waiting to be flown out of the north. What is the cost of filling a bed in emerg or IMU for a week while somebody waits for a plane?
Does the North support enough procedures to justify a cath lab? The AHA has recommendations for this too, ensuring high quality control in low volume labs.
"It would be too hard to staff" is a lazy answer to these questions, and I believe the opportunity for an interventionalist to build his own program would attract somebody. Is this really what has held this back?
I have no idea if I am out to lunch, but I have failed to have these questions answered, so I thought I'd throw them up here.
I guess I'd like to see the costs and see what we are not worth.
Bob Murdoch
Nakadzli, B.C.
