Latest news with #SaintJohnRegionalHospitalFoundation
CBC
01-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Family's experience with genetic testing inspires winning project in medical innovation challenge
Alyson Cronkhite knew soon after giving birth that something was wrong with her son. Though he was born at a healthy weight, seven pounds 13 ounces, his weight soon dropped drastically. He also did not sit up, walk, or talk at expected times. As medical staff tested the little boy for a possible genetic disease, results ultimately had to be sent to Finland for diagnosis, because her home province of New Brunswick does not have the ability to do it. Now Cronkhite, a medical technologist, is part of a team that is working on possible solutions — and her experience helped inform a project that recently received some important funding support through a local innovation challenge. Her story helped inspire Dr. Doha Itani of Saint John to create a project called Establishing Genetic Service in N.B., which won the $500,000 David Elias CHS Health Care Innovation Award on April 24. Cronkhite said that the family was worried about her son immediately after he was born. Her son underwent extensive medical tests "right from the start" — such as MRIs, ECGs and EEGs — but these all came back normal. Nobody in New Brunswick could tell them what was causing the issues. After sending test results to Finland, Cronkhite learned that her son is one of just four people in the world with a disease that is so rare, it does not have a name and is referred to only as a "global developmental delay." Right now, the family has to travel out of province several times a year to meet a health-care provider. Itani said the focus is developing the ability to do tests for serious genetic or hereditary diseases at home. Doing this "will dramatically cut current wait times, leading to greater access to diagnostic testing and screening for preventative, life-saving care right here in New Brunswick," the leaders said in a statement. Itani said that all of the functional genes in someone's DNA are referred to as "whole exome." In a statement, she likened the project to "copying the entire book… but looking for misprints in only the chapter that is relevant." The overall goal of the project is to improve access to care in New Brunswick so that patients do not need to leave the province to receive it, Itani said. She also said that New Brunswick's population is now large enough to add the testing that people need. The Medical Innovators' Challenge was a Dragon's Den -style event organized by the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation. Another project, titled Meet the Kids Where They Are, was awarded the $100,000 Community Impact Award. Meet the Kids Where They Are will "expand to add a school and health liaison role in three Saint John schools," Alex Davis, a consultant working with the hospital foundation, said. "This will help support children facing social and health challenges by providing timely health care, early interventions and community resources." According to the foundation's news release, the award "was created to celebrate solutions that extend health care access beyond hospital walls." Meet the Kids Where They Are is led by Dr. Sarah Gander, a social pediatrician.
CBC
26-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Plans for robot-assisted surgery will forever change procedures in N.L., surgeons say
Tools will allow for surgical precision not before seen in N.L., docs say Image | Surgeon operating with robot system Caption: The Health Care Foundation, a Newfoundland and Labrador non-profit, is more than halfway to its $8 million fundraising goal to introduce the da Vinci XI surgical robot system into operating rooms. (Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation) Plans to introduce robot-assisted surgery tools to Newfoundland and Labrador's health-care system were unveiled to the public on Wednesday, and the Health Care Foundation says it's already over halfway toward its fundraising goal to make it a reality. Health Care Foundation president and CEO Paul Snow said $4.8 million of a needed $8 million has already been raised since December. It would be used to bring the da Vinci Xi surgical robot system into operating rooms. "Today marks the beginning of a very bold, new chapter in surgical care in Newfoundland and Labrador," Snow said Wednesday. "Our ongoing collaboration with Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the many generous individuals, organizations, groups, family and friends that are committed to advancing care is what makes this progress possible." NLHS eastern zone COO Ron Johnson said the technology will change surgery in the province, allowing for minimally invasive surgery to be done in ways not possible before. "It's going to give shorter recovery times for very, very invasive surgery — Something now that you would have to leave this province to get otherwise," Johnson said. "It's going to benefit us. It's going to be shorter lengths of stay, meaning more people will be able to get more surgeries." Surgeons in the province are eager to get their hands on the tool, according to Dr. Angela Bussey. A training unit is currently at the Health Sciences Centre, and the hope is that the system can be integrated soon. "We're going to be able to create a situation in the [operating room] where surgeons are comfortable doing life-saving, complex procedures. And we've not been able to do that in this way to date," Bussey said. "Envision the deepest, darkest place that you could go, and put a grain of sand there or a little piece of corn. [Then] be like, 'Get that for me.' You could never do it with your hands. But with the da Vinci, you can do that. And think about that being a very small amount of cancer or other disease that someone needs to get rid of. And we're able to do that." Bussey said it will also serve as a key training tool for surgeons, as the machine's multiple screens will allow surgeons to observe procedures while they are being performed by another surgeon. She added it can also serve as a key recruitment and retention tool, as cutting-edge technology is brought to Newfoundland and Labrador. Joannie Neveu, a gynecology oncologist, said it will be a game changer. "We use the robot as a surgical equipment that is going to be, basically, the extension of what we can do," she said. "There's also less complication, right? Less bleeding and better recovery. The patient can go back to work or back to their life quicker."
