Fair statistics will confirm the worth of CHEO's cardiac unit Final Edition

CHEO can perform most kinds of cardiac surgery. However, when surgeons here feel that a case can be handled better elsewhere, they refer the case. CHEO refers roughly 25 cases per year to Sick Kids in Toronto. Doctors at CHEO also consult other centres regarding some cases. This is a collaborative s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Ottawa citizen (1986)
Main Author Sandy Schlieman, Kathryn Watcham, and Peter Littlefield
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ottawa, Ont Postmedia Network Inc 18.06.2002
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Summary:CHEO can perform most kinds of cardiac surgery. However, when surgeons here feel that a case can be handled better elsewhere, they refer the case. CHEO refers roughly 25 cases per year to Sick Kids in Toronto. Doctors at CHEO also consult other centres regarding some cases. This is a collaborative system that works very well. One of the many difficulties that would face families forced to use Sick Kids in Toronto is the waiting list for surgery. The waiting list in Toronto is much longer than it is here at CHEO. Taking cardiac surgery out of CHEO and centralizing it at Sick Kids would compound this problem. One obvious solution would be to increase the number of cases handled at CHEO. Emergency cardiac treatment at CHEO has saved many lives. We have no doubt that lives will be lost if patients in need must endure transportation to Toronto. Some local MPPs have tried to generalize this fact away, but they cannot. Cardiac surgeons at CHEO save lives because they are close by. Some children will not survive transportation.
ISSN:0839-3222