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Vancouver Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
'Happy to be pain free': How a robot named Gina gave a B.C. woman her life back
For 44 years, Maureen Coutts worked tirelessly in hospital operating rooms, helping others on their road back to health. As an OR nurse, it meant marathon days on her feet, sometimes seeing daylight come and go. Those decades exacted a heavy toll on her body, and by the time she retired in 2018 — after a brief and aborted attempt to return to work — she'd been in debilitating pain for three years. A hip joint with no cartilage and with bone grinding on bone, left her in agony and a limping waddle that made her look, she said, 'like a demented penguin.' Coutts saw many advances in the medical field during her career, but in late April, she became the beneficiary of one, becoming the first patient in Western Canada to have a total hip replacement surgery done with a robotic assist. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The prospect of being the first in the region to have the Mako Robotic Arm system operate on her hip held no fear for the 71-year-old. When Dr. Tim Kostamo, the orthopedics division head at Burnaby Hospital, called her to gauge her level of comfort with the procedure, her response was immediate. 'I said, 'Yep, sure! Why not?'' said the White Rock resident, who'd worked at Vancouver General Hospital, Delta Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital and Peace Arch Hospital in her decades of nursing. 'I think it's because over the years in my occupation, I've seen so many changes for the better. New things coming in, technology, computers, cameras … and I'd grown along with that. 'I'm just happy to be pain-free. That's the thing that I think about every day. I don't think about, 'Oh, I'm the first.' That part isn't that important. I'm going to get my life back. 'I have a seven-year old granddaughter … And for her, last summer was the worst. She would want to go certain places, and I'd say, 'I have to drive, I can't walk. 'But this summer, we can.' Burnaby had been performing total and partial knee replacements with the Mako system since the start of 2024, but this was the first total hip surgery. Kostamo had spearheaded the effort to bring the robot to B.C., starting the process when he began to feel his skills plateaued. With robotics on his mind, he visited five different U.S. cities to see the workflow in their hospitals, settling on the Mako because of its track record and comprehensive data. The Prince George native presented his findings to the Fraser Health Authority, and it took two years of meetings before it was given the green light. Funding for the $2.3 million machine was the easiest part, he said. So was naming it — Gina, after the wife of a donor. 'Everything moves slowly in our health-care system, when you want any change,' he said with a rueful chuckle. 'There were a lot of meetings. … Our hospital foundation was amazing. I met with them, like, once, and they're like, 'yes, we'll do it.' Our community donors were super behind it. 'So it was a two-year journey of, 'Hey, what can I do to improve the outcomes for the patients?' deciding on this particular robotic system and then going through the bureaucratic pub crawl to make it happen.' Kostamo called his surgical team a well-oiled machine, speaking to Postmedia after a day when he'd done eight joint replacements, a sample of the hundreds he'd do in a year. 'I have a retired orthopedic surgeon who's my assistant,' he said. 'He's actually the one who taught me how to do joint replacements 20 years ago. He knows my every move. I know his every move. It's like a dance … it's like a tango. We don't even have to say anything to each other. We know exactly what's happening next.' 'Gina' is now another partner to join the dance. While the Mako system is another step forward, the Star Trek future of autonomous surgery remains the fiction part of sci-fi. Of the 140 or so steps in a knee replacement, the machine only helps with about five of them. Orthopedic surgery, Kostamo said, sometimes resembles 'wanton violence.' The vigorous manipulation of joints can cause green medical students to faint when seeing it for the first time, and it seems closer to carpentry than surgery when the doctors pull out various power tools — or good old fashioned hammers and chisels — and pound away at the body. With a robot-assisted hip replacement, the Mako is involved in the reaming: the preparation of the hip socket, usually done by a sure-handed surgeon with a power drill capped by a special grinding head. The arm is the same one used for knee replacements, but the head with specialized attachments is changed . Guided by CT scans which give a three-dimensional view of the joint, the Mako can make more accurate cuts and guiding, keeping the patient's geometry — such as the leg length, the distance from the centre of the pelvis to the hip — intact. But it can't move the head of the femur back into the acetabulum, the cup-shaped socket in the hip bone, and can't gauge the force needed. Too little, the bone won't set in place. Too much, and the pelvis could break. 'It helps us make the cuts very precisely, but it can't move the patient onto the table. It can't position the patient, can't open the wound, it doesn't have judgment yet to know if something's gone sour, it can't fix it,' said Kostamo. 'For surgeons, we're still a long way from AI taking us over. 'It's exciting. But these things are not massive changes. They're sort of incremental changes. But if you don't pursue these incremental changes and these innovations, then you're not going to keep getting better. But it's exciting that technology can help us to continually improve and, I'm excited that at Burnaby hospital we were the first in the province, and now the first in Western Canada to do a hip with it. It's been a triumph for our team. And so it's good to have some good news out of the health-care system.' With more than 100 knee replacements — and now one hip — under their belt, the orthopedics department has had a 15 per cent improvement in the precision of implant placement (how close the implants are to being perfect), a better range of motion, and quicker healing times. The time it takes for the procedure has reduced too, as the surgical teams get better acquainted with the technology. A month on from surgery, Coutts is walking the halls of her apartment building, mounting stairs properly, and looking forward to keeping up with her husband on walks. 'I would say another in couple of weeks, and I probably won't need this,' she said, looking at her cane as she moved with just the trace of a limp. 'The outcome of the patient is so close to our hearts,' said Kostamo. 'We live and breathe how our patients do after surgery. For us, it's so great when patients do well. 'When I'm in the office and I have patient after patient coming in and I've restored their ability to walk, they have no pain, and they're so happy, it's the most wonderful thing.' jadams@ @
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Omnicell's New Perioperative Clinic Setting Products May Boost Stock
Omnicell OMCL has announced new products aimed at streamlining workflows and improving inventory visibility and management in perioperative and clinic settings. The offerings are a new line of RFID products, MedTrack, and a web-enabled software product named MedVision. The latest development expands the company's connected platform, intended to automate medication management processes and deliver intelligent insights to drive clinical and operational outcomes across all settings of care. After the announcement yesterday, OMCL shares remained stable in the after-hours session. The ongoing staffing shortages in healthcare facilities and enterprise expansion lead to disconnected systems and processes, which often introduce opportunities for error and risk. By delivering scalable solutions that are designed to grow visibility, enhance intelligence and streamline workflows, Omnicell is helping close gaps in medication management across the care continuum. Accordingly, we expect the latest development to positively boost market sentiment toward OMCL stock. Omnicell has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion at present. Going by the Zacks Consensus Estimate, the company's 2025 revenues are expected to improve 1.4%. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 62.5%. The company believes that the path to the industry-defined vision of the Autonomous Pharmacy demands full visibility into medication use throughout the health system. The new MedTrack line of RFID products is designed to increase the accuracy and visibility of medications, streamline workflows and free time for clinicians to focus on higher-value work. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The initial offering is MedTrack – OR, an RFID-enabled, single-deep drawer built to support operating room and anesthesia workflows and automatically track non-controlled medications without disrupting provider workflows. In the event of surgical emergencies, MedTrack OR is designed to provide instant access to essential medications while automatically updating Anesthesia WorkStation inventory counts once the user logs out. Meanwhile, Omnicell's MedVision software helps a health system's outpatient clinics restock medications directly from central pharmacies or Centralized Services Centers (CSCs). The solution is intended to provide real-time clinic medication inventory data accessible through intuitive dashboards. It is engineered to trigger automatic reordering from the central pharmacy or CSC when established par levels get low. The software also offers mobile device support for on-the-go inventory management in clinic storerooms and an optional integration with Epic medication administration record (MAR), which is built to automatically update inventory when a medication is administered from the electronic health record. Per a Mordor Intelligence report, the global Hospital Asset Tracking and Inventory Management Systems market is expected to reach $31.05 billion in 2025 and expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% through 2030. The market continues to witness significant transformation driven by technological advancements and the need for operational efficiency. Concurrently, Omnicell announced the opening of its Austin, Texas Innovation Lab, which will serve as a hub focused on addressing challenges along the medication and supply journey. The facility will develop new technologies that are designed to solve evolving challenges faced by the healthcare industry. Over the past three months,Omnicell shares have declined 27.4% compared with the industry's fall of 9.5%. Omnicell currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Hims & Hers Health HIMS, Inspira Medical Systems INSP and Cardinal Health CAH. Each of these carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Estimates for Hims & Hers Health's 2025 earnings per share have jumped 9.4% to 70 cents in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have surged 336.5% in the past year compared with the industry's 21% growth. HIMS' earnings surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters, matched in one and missed on another occasion, the average surprise being 19.6%. Inspira shares have dipped 2% in the past year. Estimates for the company's 2025 earnings per share have increased 2.6% to $2.26 in the past 30 days. INSP's earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 356.9%. In the last reported quarter, it posted an earnings surprise of 143.5%. Estimates for Cardinal Health's fiscal 2025 earnings per share have increased 1.9% to $7.94 in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have jumped 50.4% in the past year against the industry's 3.5% fall. CAH's earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 10.3%. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 9.3%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) : Free Stock Analysis Report Omnicell, Inc. (OMCL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. (INSP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (HIMS) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crozer Health closure: Hundreds attend Delaware County job fair
The Brief A job fair was held in Delaware County aimed at connecting thousands of workers impacted by the Crozer Health bankruptcy and eventual closure to new careers. More than 200 employers and support systems lined up in Subaru Park in Chester for them Tuesday. CHESTER, Pa. - Hundreds of former employees of Crozer Health attended a job fair at Subaru Park, in Chester, in order to help those impacted move on in new positions and careers. Personal impacts Michael Payne walked through Subaru Park in Chester with fellow former OR Surgical Technologists on Tuesday, joining the thousands affected by recent Crozer Health layoffs, trying to find a new full-time job. He says the layoff couldn't have come at a worse time. "My wife had a stroke maybe three to four weeks prior to me losing my job. She was on my benefits, my children is on my benefits and everything got ripped from under me," he says. "I'm praying, I'm praying to God that I land something." Kareeman Blagman, also a OR Surgical Technologist, says they were hopeful until their last day. "It felt like a death," she says. "My ideal next job would just be somewhere that's more stable, just working at another great facility and learning." What we know More than 200 employers set up around the concourse for the four-hour job fair, a collaboration between the Delaware County Workforce Development Office, PA CareerLink® Delaware County, Pa. Department of Labor & Industry, and numerous community partners. Michael Robinson, with Outreach and Hiring at Temple University, was among the many also offering free resources. "Resume writing, job referrals, we help them with their job search tactics," he says. "There's a lot of people as you can see looking for work." Dr. Monica Taylor, Chair of Delaware County Council, says for those that could not make the job fair, their transition center for laid-off employees will remain open 8:30 to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 160 E. 7th Street in Chester. You can make an appointment by calling (610) 876-4855, and walk-ins are also allowed. "You can't replace a Crozer and some of our employees have been here serving our community for decades, but I do feel like today is the next step. People are starting to look at what the next opportunity is," she says. What's next As for next steps for healthcare in Delaware County, she says they are continuing to work with non-profit providers in the region. Mayor of Chester, Stefan Roots, also stopped by. "We're very hopeful that when the smoke clears, the building is still there intact, the need is certainly intact, and anyone that wants to bring a health system to Chester, believe me, I'm rolling out the red carpet," he says. Payne, while praying and hopeful for a new full-time gig, says he is also worried about the community. "People can die and that's my main concern," he says. "Hopefully it helps the people that lost their jobs, but for the community, it's still sad, it's a terrible thing." Information for Crozer workers County officials say Crozer employees can text 'healthjobs' to 888777 for updates from PA CareerLink or for career and training events and resources. Employees can also sign up for virtual sessions starting April 30 for more information about unemployment, health insurance and training services, or drop by the Crozer Transition Center/PA CareerLink at 160 E 7th St. in Chester starting on May 5 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Evening and weekend hours to be announced later. Scan the QR code for career and training events: Mental health support Those in need can also utilize the National Suicide & Crisis Hotline and call, text or chat 988. For mental health support from Peer, contact the Peer Warmline at 855-464-9342. You can also reach the Delaware County Crisis Connections Team at 1-855-889-7827.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Sullivan's Crossing' Season 3 Premiere First Look Photos Reveal 'Challenges' Ahead and Romances Heating Up (Exclusive)
It's almost time to return to the Crossing for the summer. Parade has your first-look at the premiere episode of Sullivan's Crossing, which airs on Wednesday, May 14. What can fans expect? Well, while romances are heating up, they also come with their fair share of challenges. 🎬 🎬 At the end of season 2, Maggie Sullivan (Morgan Kohan) confessed her love to Cal Jones (Chad Michael Murray), but the first episode of Season 3, titled "New Beginnings," finds her trying "to embrace her new life at the Crossing as she struggles to move past the loss she suffered the night of the diner fire." Related: It's unclear if the loss that the synopsis is referring to is about the diner, her father's near-brush with death, or if the stress of it all caused Maggie to lose the baby, which many fans have theorized may happen if the series wants to give Cal and Maggie's romance a fair shot. Maggie has officially left behind her adrenaline-filled life in the OR in Boston and moved to Nova Scotia to follow her heart, where she'll help run the Outpost with her father and "make Sullivan's Crossing her home," which is evident in the photos as she sits on her childhood bed with Sully (Scott Patterson) smiling over her permanent decision. "Though she wants to finally take her relationship with Cal to the next level, she finds herself struggling to connect with him due to her loss," the season description notes, as we see the newly-minted couple having a heart-to-heart while sipping lemonade on the front porch. The challenges aren't just limited to Maggie, as Edna (Andrea Menard) and Frank (Tom Jackson) make some much-needed changes at the store that are "rubbing certain people the wrong way." As for romances heating up, it extends past Maggie and Cal as "bestselling author, Helen (Kate Vernon), comes to the Crossing to finish her new book" and crosses paths with Sully. By the second episode, "Sully sees Helen in a new light as they begin to bond over their mutual love of birdwatching, but their trip into the forest takes a turn with a shocking discovery." Meanwhile, "Sydney (Lindura) and Rafe (Dakota Taylor) get caught in a compromising position by Rafe's new boss," the synopsis also states, as the photos show the duo packing on the PDA after they finally admitted their feelings for each other. Elsewhere in episode 2, "Frank and Edna prepare for the arrival of Frank's cousin, and Lola (Amalia Williamson) has an awkward run-in with a handsome stranger (Joel Oulette) on a girls' night out." Sullivan's Crossing Season 3 premieres Wednesday, May 14 @ 8/7c on The CW. Next,
Muscat Daily
06-05-2025
- Muscat Daily
Fake tickets scam Buraimi travel agent jailed
Buraimi – The Primary Court in Buraimi has sentenced the owner of a travel and tourism office to prison and issued fines after convicting him of multiple offences, including fraud, forgery, and operating without a licence. The case was triggered by a complaint filed by a female consumer who transferred money to the office for airline tickets. Shortly before the travel date, the office informed her of a cancellation. Upon contacting the airline directly, she discovered that the tickets were fake. Following an investigation by the Consumer Protection Department in Buraimi Governorate, the case was referred to the Public Prosecution and then to court. The court sentenced the defendant to: Three months' imprisonment for forging a private document, Another three months and a fine of OR 300 for fraud, A fine of OR 400 for operating without a licence, Two months' imprisonment and a fine of OR 300 for failing to deliver services properly. The sentences were consolidated, with the harshest penalty — for fraud — to be enforced. The court also ordered the closure of the office, used as the instrument of the crime. The CPA has praised the public's role in reporting violations.
