Windsor refuses to lose thoracic surgeries from hospitals

By Sean Previl

Hundreds of people are showing their support of Windsor Regional Hospital’s decision to continue thoracic surgery in the city.

Residents of Windsor and Essex County gathered at the Vollmer Complex in LaSalle Nov. 12 to voice their concerns after Cancer Care Ontario asked WRH to stop performing thoracic surgeries by the end of March 2014 or risk losing $800,000 in funding.

Thoracic surgery is a procedure performed to help people with issues relating to organs in the chest such as their heart, lungs and esophagus.  Recent statistics by CCO showed the number of esophageal surgeries performed in Ontario by designated centres rose from 79 per cent in 2006-07 to 82 per cent in 2007-08, while lung surgeries increased from 76 to 81 per cent in the same time frame.

Brian Masse, NDP-MP for Windsor West, said losing cancer treatments would have a serious impact on everyone due to the environmental concerns in the region.

“This community has paid a significant price for cancer because of the environmental conditions,” said Masse. “Sometimes we’re working in factories, sometimes we’re working in farms and we have been affected by cancer significantly and we will not go away silently.”

Many of the attendees were concerned that if WRH were to cut the thoracic surgery program, it would result in cancer patients and their families having to travel to London or Toronto to receive treatment.

Carol Boynton, whose husband Jack was operated on for esophageal cancer in May, said moving treatment centres out of Windsor would cause more stress for her and her family.

“The day of (his) surgery, there was 12 of us,” said Boynton. “Could you imagine all of us traveling down the highway in three cars; gas, food, the stress? Unbelievable. I can’t even imagine to do all this the day of.”

Windsor Regional has requested to be designated as a level two surgical centre. According to the CCO website, this would require the hospital to have a minimum of one thoracic surgeon and perform at least 50 lung and seven esophageal surgeries.  According to Windsor Regional’s Vice President of Public Affairs Ron Foster, Windsor meets the standard, doing 50 lung and nine esophageal surgeries a year.

Dr. Michael Coughlin, a general thoracic surgeon in Windsor, said the potential cut of thoracic surgery is not the first type of treatment that’s been removed from Windsor hospitals.

“This is a second cut. We’ve lost hepatobiliary (and) pancreatic surgery, and that is a direct loss because of CCO,” said Coughlin.

Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital lost funding for their hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery program earlier this year.  The hepatobiliary system refers to the liver, gall bladder and bile ducts area of the body.

NDP-MPP for Essex, Taras Natyshak, who was running the town hall meeting with Masse and MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh, Percy Hatfield, said the decision handed down by CCO has brought the community together.

“Cancer has touched everyone’s lives in one way or another and when a threat comes down to say that we’re not going to have access to cancer treatment any longer in our community, that threat has to be matched with an equal level of frustration and resistance and that’s what happened tonight,” said Natyshak. “Our community has come together like no other. We have thousands of people who have signed the petition and the decision is unacceptable. This is only the beginning of a really strong community-based campaign.”

Masse asked residents at the meeting to work together to change the government’s mind.

“We need to be unified, Windsor and Essex County together, our friends, our family. Make sure you spread the word. We can do this, we have to do this and we have to be more unified as a region than ever before. Let’s use that as a core strength to make sure we actually get this stopped.”