Latest news with #ChalmersFoundation
CTV News
3 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
N.B. government throws support behind hybrid operating room in Fredericton
The outside of the emergency room of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton. (CTV Atlantic/Laura Brown) The New Brunswick government is throwing its support behind a hybrid operating room in Fredericton that is expected to run up annual costs of $3.3 million. The Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital has been undergoing renovations for years and three years ago doctors began advocating that one of the newly-renovated spaces become a hybrid operating room. 'A hybrid operating room combines a traditional operating room with advanced medical imaging devices, allowing physicians to diagnose and perform complex, minimally invasive surgical procedures in one setting,' a news release from the province says. The Chalmers Foundation is raising money to pay for new equipment and it expects to shore up $4.3 million. The government is also committing money to help with preparations, although its release did not give a firm amount. 'The foundation is delighted to get the green light to raise funds for a hybrid operating room, something that our board, the local community and our medical staff have long advocated for,' said Charles A. Diab, CEO of the Chalmers Foundation, in the release. 'For patients, this will significantly improve wait times for care and important surgeries. 'Also, it is really going to help us in recruitment and retention efforts for specialists and surgeons who want the tools and equipment to do what they're trained to do.' -With files from Laura Brown More to come… Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital The outside of the emergency room of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton. (CTV Atlantic/Laura Brown) For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CBC
02-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
How a device called an exoskeleton is helping one N.B. man get back on his feet
He can't feel his legs, but he's able to walk using a special robotic suit 13 minutes ago Duration 4:28 Social Sharing After sustaining a spinal cord injury in a motor vehicle accident, Josh Nevers is learning to walk again, even though he doesn't have much feeling in his legs. A patient at the Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton, one aspect of his physiotherapy sessions has especially made a difference: a robotic suit called an exoskeleton, or more fully, the EksoNR Robotic Exoskeleton. "It feels pretty amazing to walk with it again because you're actually moving your legs like you are walking," Nevers said. "I hope it gets me so I can use my leg braces again." Physiotherapist Erica de Passillé said the exoskeleton is a battery-operated, wearable device that gives patients with minimal movement in their legs the ability to walk. "It allows patients to take more steps than they otherwise could over ground," De Passillé said. "So it's a fantastic piece of technology." The suit was purchased with a donation from the Chalmers Foundation, the Horizon Health Network said in a news release. The only other one in Atlantic Canada is owned by the University of New Brunswick, which had let the hospital use it since 2017, the release said. Meghan Leroux, his other physiotherapist, said Nevers had no movement in his lower body and has had additional leg injuries in recent years. "And so we're just trying to get him back to being able to walk within the home again and back to what he was doing," Leroux said. She said they've been using this "cutting edge equipment" twice a week with Nevers to get him comfortable in a standing position. And it's been rewarding to see his growth. "Especially when you have a goal that you're working toward, and you know that this is part of getting there and part of that journey, you know, and to get him back to where he wants to be," Leroux said. Using the exoskeleton can help a patient eventually become more independent, De Passillé said.
