Rockyview General Hospital has cancelled more than 400 elective surgeries and exams because of badly needed upgrades to equipment, but Alberta Health Services (AHS) says emergency surgeries and cancer-related procedures won’t be affected.
AHS said in a statement on Wednesday that 200 non-urgent surgical procedures and 250 cystoscopy exams will have to be rescheduled so that repair work can be carried out between Oct. 23 to Nov. 2 and Nov. 17 to Nov. 29.
AHS said upgrades are needed in the sterile medical device and instrument processing area.
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Officials said the repairs will require surgeries and exams to be rescheduled across “all surgical departments” and will impact about 50 scheduled surgeries per week.
They said the problem was identified during preventative maintenance testing.
“These postponements are necessary to ensure patient safety,” said Calgary zone medical director Dr. Sid Viner. “When equipment malfunctions occur we have to take all possible measures to address the situation and lessen the impact to patients and their families.”
Health officials said patients who’ve had their surgery postponed will be contacted “as soon as possible.”
“Rockyview patients will continue to receive the care they need, when they need it, including urgent and emergency surgeries,” Viner said.
AHS said appointments will be rescheduled in two phases and that hospital staff will work with South Health Campus to sterilize instruments as repairs are being completed.
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