More than 30 Sea to Sky residents have had elective surgeries cancelled since January as problems with Squamish General Hospital's ancient roof continue to impede health practitioners' jobs.
"The roof is old," said Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) relations officer Anna Marie D'Angelo.
Heavy snow caused ceiling tiles to become saturated and fall to the floor in January in an area of the hospital used as a sterile processing unit. And the OR has been shut down twice, said D'Angelo, cancelling 33 scheduled surgeries - between three and eight per day - as leaks made the work impossible.
"The OR was down a full week, and then we repaired the leak and it leaked again, and now it's down for another week," she said on Monday (March 2). "That's hastened our desire to have [the roof replaced]."
Work to replace the roof, at a cost of $1 million, is expected to begin in the spring. VCH is asking for tenders next month, said D'Angelo. The Sea to Sky Hospital District is VCH's funding partner in the project, taking on 40 per cent of the cost.
In the meantime, affected areas must be shut down for extended periods of time to ensure there's no compromise of patient health and safety.
"It can't just be dry, it has to be dry and clean and that sort of stuff," said D'Angelo. "So if it goes down for a day, it's several days before it gets back to the same standards. We're sorry for the inconvenience to everyone, but patient safety is our priority, and we certainly have all the contingencies in place to make it a safe place."
Patients who have had elective surgeries cancelled are being re-scheduled or directed toward another hospital, according to D'Angelo.
"If it's elective surgeries, it's up to the doctors when they should go."
Emergency surgeries are also rerouted using the BC Bedline program.
BC Bedline collaborates with health care providers to "provide safe, timely and cost effective transfer of acute and critically ill patients to the appropriate level of care," according to the program website. BC Bedline is a physician-driven service. It does not provide information to family members or the public.
