Surgeries are expected to return to the Innisfail Health and Care Centre this July after the doors of the operating room closed six years ago.
As part of a surgery expansion project between Innisfail, Red Deer and Olds, ophthalmology (eye) surgeries are being moved over from the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.
"We want to reduce wait times," said Tammy McCubbing, site manager at Innisfail Health and Care Centre of Alberta Health Services' (AHS) $16.7-million plan to increase the number of high priority surgeries in Alberta by 5,000 a year.
"We are moving (ophthalmology) to Innisfail to free up time in Red Deer for more complex surgeries related to cancer or joint replacement surgeries ó ones that need to be done in a major centre."
The Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre performed nearly 13,500 surgeries in the 2009-10 fiscal year, up almost 5 per cent from the previous year.
Originally planned to offer surgeries twice a week in Innisfail, McCubbing said surgeries would be offered three days a week, freeing up surgeries in Red Deer nine days a month.
The ophthalmology program will cover pre- and post-op care, screening and cataract and other eye-related surgeries, said McCubbing. In a press release AHS said pediatric procedures and surgeries that require general anesthetic will not be offered in Innisfail, but remain at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.
A retinal clinic as well as outpatient services to accommodate a variety of ophthalmology conditions will be available as well, added AHS.
"The clinics will be for vision loss, health of the retina, anything related to ophthalmology," said McCubbing.
Renovations in the tune of $1 million have begun in the hospital to convert what was a storage room and patient room area into the surgery area and clinic.
"The beds are staying the same. We're not losing, we're reorganizing," said McCubbing, adding there's about 28 total beds in the hospital.
The surgeries, considered minor day procedures, won't see anyone stay overnight, she added.
McCubbing said the surgery programs offered in Innisfail six years ago before it closed were completely different than the ophthalmology program getting offered this year, but she couldn't say in detail what they were or why it closed. But, she added, getting surgeries back into Innisfail is a positive step for Central Alberta.
"We are very excited about it. Not just for Innisfail but for all Central Alberta. We are trying to reduce the wait-list and allow things to be closer to home (which) is always great."
Three surgeons will be making the Innisfail Health and Care Centre a second home while continuing their practices in Red Deer ó Dr. Elizabeth Lythgoe, Dr. Hernando Chacon-Andrade and Dr. Miloslar Bozdech.
Meanwhile, as part of the expansion project, the Olds Hospital and Care Centre (OHCC) will now offer surgeries five days a week, up from two and a half. It will share its operating room with Red Deer surgeons, who will use it two days out of the week to perform general surgery, such as laparoscopic cholecystectomies, hernias and varicose vein ligations, and orthopedic surgeries, such as arthroscopies of knees, small foot procedures, and ganglion removal.
Dr. Sinclair Cox, OHCC general surgeon, will use the remaining operating room days to perform major and minor surgeries. A general practitioner will also use some of the operating room time to perform caesarean sections, tonsillectomies and other minor procedures.
