Today Caritas is continuing this ground-breaking work at the Grey Nuns and Misericordia Community Hospitals—facilities that provide a full range of basic acute care services.
Each year almost 30,000 surgeries are performed at Caritas sites—from hip replacements to cancer surgeries to hernia repairs—and innovative approaches are making a difference.
The Grey Nuns orthopedic surgery program is helping many with severe shoulder problems regain their ability to do such basic tasks as combing hair or holding a baby. The program has earned a reputation for pioneering new arthroscopic techniques and developing orthopedic devices to stabilize and restore shoulder function.
Last year, surgeons performed the first reverse shoulder surgery in Alberta. The new technology, using a reverse shoulder prosthesis, restores mobility for patients with arthritis who are unable to use the muscles in the shoulder that raise the arm upwards, inwards and backwards.
Also at the Grey Nuns, surgeons are using new technology to perform surgery with minimal invasion. The laparoscopic surgical system uses a digital scope—which can see around corners—and a digital camera for common procedures such as hernia repairs and gall bladder removals.
With the new system, surgeons are able to operate in difficult to reach areas without a major incision. In addition, surgery takes less time, patients receive less anesthesia and recovery times are shortened.
Meanwhile, at the Misericorida site, a $1.25 million piece of therapeutic equipment ensures 16,000 patients with kidney stones get treatment without surgery each year. Called a lithotripter, the unit targets calcium deposits in the kidneys and breaks them down using shock waves. Patients receive a mild sedation for the 20-30 minute painless procedure performed by an urologist.
The hospital's Lithotripsy program began in 1989 with one of the first units of its kind in North America. A stronger, more efficient model was purchased in 1999. Today, the program serves patients in north of Red Deer, as well as British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.
"We are constantly searching for ways to integrate new tools and techniques to improve care and enhance outcomes for our patients and communities," says Caritas Chief of Staff Dr. Jeff Robinson. "Everybody benefits if we can serve more patients in a day, decrease their recovery time or help them return sooner to work or daily activities."
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