MOOSE JAW – The push continues to keep Saskatchewan’s only oxygen therapy unit in the province.
Dr. David Amies, who was one of the only physicians trained in hyperbarics at Moose Jaw Union Hospital, is now among those leading the charge.
“Transportation to the new hospital would have been the obvious thing to do,” said Amies, now in retirement.
The new regional hospital in Moose Jaw, set to open this summer, is 25,000 sq. ft. smaller than the facility it will replace, which is too small for the hyperbaric chamber, according to the Five Hills Health Region.
“It was a no brainer.”
Amies said the chamber unit and space required to operate it is no larger than his living room.
Funding for the chamber expires at the end of 2015 and the Saskatchewan ministry of health is downplaying its importance.
“It is a therapy … not a primary or initial treatment.” said Deb Jordan, the executive director of acute and emergency services.
‘That’s what kept me going’
Former patients like Mary Kish, 72, won’t have any of that.
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Following a hernia operation-gone-wrong in 2001, she was left with a large hole in her stomach roughly ten centimetres in diameter.
The wound still wouldn’t heal after two years, so a doctor recommended oxygen therapy.
Thirty treatments later, Kish said the hole was “the size of a pen.”
“There are so many people it has helped. I don’t think I’d be sitting here today if I didn’t have those treatments.”
Since the chamber began treating patients in 1997, 258 patients have undergone a total of 4,480 treatments, which averages out to roughly 300 per year.
The chamber needs about $70,000 worth of repairs, according to the health region. A new unit could cost three times that amount.
If it moves to a public health clinic, as government officials hinted at on Mar. 13, the three per cent of patients suffering carbon monoxide poisoning would be left out.
People like Gail and Jim Sack of North Battleford, who drove to the legislature to express their outrage, would have had to be rushed to Edmonton or Toronto when they suffered CO poisoning in January.
READ MORE: Hyperbaric oxygen chambers used to treat family pets with swollen tissues, infected wounds
“It’s disappointing you can take a sophisticated instrument like this out of our community, which was funded through efforts of the community, and it’ll be junked,” Amies said.
“It was a no brainer.”
Dan Florizone, Saskatoon Health Region CEO, was asked if there was any interest in moving the hyperbaric chamber to either of Saskatoon’s hospitals.
He told reporters it wasn’t a “high priority.”
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