Cardiac Care Campaign set to benefit heart patients

Those with heart conditions will soon have new technologies to treat their conditions thanks to a $2-million investment.

On Wednesday, the Hospitals of Regina Foundation announced the Cardiac Care Campaign to invest in new technologies at the Mosaic Heart Centre located at Regina’s General Hospital. The campaign will be partnered with The Mosaic Company, which will match public donations up to $1 million.

Dr. Rodney Zimmerman of the centre welcomes the new investment and what it means for the centre.

“It allows us to maintain and keep pace with the best therapies that we can deliver,” said Zimmerman, who added that the technologies will improve doctor precision, fidelity and imaging capabilities.

New technologies that are expected to arrive at the centre include ultrasound machines specific to the heart, dye injectors to monitor blood vessels and X-ray machines to to obtain moving images of the heart.

The equipment will be going specifically to the Catheterization Lab at the centre. Doctors there diagnose and treat a number of heart issues related to heart vessel blockages and coronary disease. More than 2,200 procedures are performed annually at the lab.

Some new technologies have already been featured at the centre, including a procedure that allows for a new heart valve to be implanted using a catheter. The Mosaic Heart Centre is the only facility in Saskatchewan that can do the procedure.

The Mosaic Company has previously partnered with the Mosaic Heart Centre. Back in 2006, the company invested $6.2 million in the creation of the centre, which has helped heart patients in southern Saskatchewan since.

Karen Swager, the senior vice-president of potash of The Mosaic Company, said the comapny has always been committed to the centre. This investment will better the lives of patients and their families.

“Having the equipment that the doctors, nurses and health care professionals need to have to help these patients can help better lives and can help better families in the community,” said Swager, who added that “with heart health being so critical to people’s well-being … it’s exciting for us to be able to help.”

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in Canada. Last year, one out of every five visits to Regina’s emergency rooms were heart-related.