H E A LT H C A R E
AN ONGOING EFFORT COMES TO FRUITION Nearly 10 years ago, Interior Health began its redevelopment project for Kelowna General Hospital. “The focus of that was renewal of facilities, but also to transform it into a teaching hospital with cardiac surgery,” says Norma Malanowich, Chief Project Officer & Corporate Director of Capital Planning for Interior Health. “The finishing of the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre building provides a permanent home for cardiac surgery and the operating rooms that were part of that transformation.” The four-story centre features pre- and post-operative care on its main floor, operating suites plus a cardiac surgery intensive care unit and post-anesthesia recovery room on the second floor, and its medical device reprocessing department on the third floor. “All of the technology is stateof-the-art,” says Malanowich. Examples of this technology include integrated monitoring and surgical systems and a hybrid OR equipped with both diagnostic
Norma Malanowich
imaging equipment and surgical equipment—one of very few in the country, this hybrid setup allows surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgery and drastically reduce recovery time for patients. With the opening of this new facility, KGH is able to provide interventional cardiology as well as cardiac surgery services to all of interior British Columbia. By expanding these services to a wider geographical area, the hospital is able to provide comprehensive cardiac care to patients throughout w w w. i n t e r i o r h e a l t h . c a
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