How keeping your heart here can save your life
Dr. Warren Ball knows it as soon as he answers the phone. This call to the Cath Lab is urgent. A man has just arrived at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) without a pulse. There’s no doubt he’s suffered a heart attack.
Dr. Ball, an Interventional Cardiologist and Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at PRHC, quickly makes his way to the Emergency Department where the man has just been resuscitated. Right away, he knows he may need to insert a stent to remove the blockage that’s stopping his patient’s heart. There’s no time to lose. One of the man’s coronary arteries is 100% blocked and heart muscle is dying every minute.
Thankfully, because of the past generosity of donors, on that day Dr. Ball and his team had the tools and technology they needed to stop his patient’s heart attack in its tracks, saving his life.
It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. Every year, Dr. Ball and his colleagues diagnose and treat thousands of patients from across the central east region. Last year alone they performed 2,918 cardiac procedures, including 885 stenting procedures – 213 of them while a heart attack was actually taking place.
In fact, up to 600,000 people in Peterborough and the surrounding central eastern region rely on the Cath Lab for lifesaving urgent and non-emergency cardiac services, with patients coming from as far away as Durham, North Hastings, Northumberland and the City of Kawartha Lakes. It’s community support, however, that makes their lifesaving work not only possible, but sustainable.
“Donors made cardiac stenting possible in our region and the Cath Lab team and I are very grateful for their support,” says Dr. Ball. “Without them, we’d have to transfer patients to another hospital hours away, at a time when every minute can mean the difference between life and death.”
“Many people are aware that the government provides the budget to run our hospital, but don’t know that it doesn’t provide money for the vast majority of PRHC’s equipment and technology needs,” he adds. “For that, we depend on the support of donors from Peterborough and our surrounding region.
Today, Dr. Ball and his colleagues need your help to keep their patients’ hearts here, close to home. After more than a decade of stopping heart attacks in their tracks – of saving lives – PRHC’s two Cath Lab suites must be replaced.
“Like all technology, medical equipment reaches the end of its lifespan,” says Dr. Ball. “But just like when you upgrade your laptop or smartphone, the newer tools are smarter and more advanced.”
“Reinvesting in Cath Lab technology will give us an even better picture of what’s happening while we’re inserting a stent and unblocking a patient’s artery,” he adds. “And we’ll be able to do it faster, with less radiation, and without our patients having to travel far away from home.”
Dr. Ball says that donor support also helps PRHC attract and retain the best and the brightest healthcare professionals.
“Talented physicians want to join a hospital where they have access to leading-edge technology, so they can take the best possible care of their patients,” Dr. Ball says. “Reinvestment in world-class cardiac care is key to our ability to position PRHC as a top choice for experts.”
“Fortunately, we were able to save our patient’s life that day,” says Dr. Ball. “But imagine if we didn’t have a world-class Cath Lab at PRHC. He would have had to be transported to another hospital, far from his family and friends. It’s impossible to know if he’d still be here with us today.”
Dr. Ball says he sees the difference state-of-the-art equipment makes in the lives of his patients, and knows it ensures doctors and nurses like him can do their jobs to the best of their ability for their patients.
“This holiday season, I hope people will think of their loved ones, friends and neighbours – anyone who might need the Cath Lab one day,” says Dr. Ball. “They might be the people you see at the grocery store, wave to on the sidewalk, or sit across from at the dinner table. And when you do, I hope you’ll make the most generous gift you can to the PRHC Foundation.
“Together, we’ll keep your caring heart, and so many others, right here.”
Give today. Help us keep your heart here tomorrow. Call (705) 876-5000 or visit prhcfoundation.ca.