Seven year, $13M expansion comes to fruition at St. Mary’s General

It can sometimes seem like a grey cloud is constantly over our heads as we trod through this pandemic. That darkness, however, makes the bright spots shine all the more.

St. Mary's General Hospital marked what they're calling a “huge milestone” at the beginning of this year: Patients are now about to receive ablation procedures in Waterloo Region, meaning those with heart rhythm issues won't have to take a trip down the 401.

The project is a result of seven years of work and $13 million, funded both by donors and the government.

The amount of procedures vary per day, depending on the type of procedure and the patient. Right now the clinic can do anywhere from one to four patients per day, though they hope to ramp that up over time.

Dr. Umjeet Jolly is the doctor conducting the complex electrical mapping studies of the heart, hunting down trouble spots and freezing or burning them with catheter ablation. The heart rhythm-restoring process is going to mean a lot to the region's population, according to Dr. Jolly.

“It's incredibly important,” Dr. Jolly told 570 NEWS. “I think that not having access to care affects patients more than anyone realizes. For example, data from the Ministry of Health tells us that individuals who live in the Waterloo Region have the lowest rates of ablation. That is not because they have less hearth rhythm issues than other parts of Ontario, it's because they don't have access to care. That is something that this opening will alleviate.”

Patient Bill Austin was one of the first to have the procedure locally, after having episodes where his heart would race wildly to the point where he felt “totally wiped out, as if I had run the Boston Marathon,” even from something as simple as standing up. The 82-year-old now feels like “a million bucks.”

“It meant I didn't have to go to London. It was a whole lot handier,” said Austin. “It went wonderfully well, fantastic, it was great.”

Austin noted that the staff were caring and cautious, and he was in and out of the hospital within 12 hours.

“The thing that really blows my mind is that, while they're doing this, your heart is beating and it's full of blood! That's the part that, I just don't know how they can do that. But they did, and it's worked out great!”

“Great” might be an understatement for Bill, whose wife joked that she can “hardly hold him down” from long walks that he has been able to enjoy without episodes. The two will celebrate 60 years of marriage next month.

Beth Wolf is another one of the first patients, who now feels like she has a new lease on life and is back to work one week later as a literacy consultant with the Waterloo Region Catholic District School Board.

“I had specific triggers which would make my heart race,” Wolf recalled. “I was actually trying to get an ECG done, and they clocked me at over 180 beats per minute, and that wasn't the highest number that I had achieved.”

Wolf said the condition was debilitating at times, and wants anyone who hears her story going through the same thing to get treatment.

“I feel like this procedure has really given me my life back, because now I can do the things I want to do,” said Wolf.

Dr. Jolly also emphasized his pride in the team for getting the unit up and running amidst a pandemic.

The suite for electrophysiology studies and ablation is the centre-piece of the $13 million three-phase expansion of St. Mary's Heart Rhythm program.

“The fact that we are now done and we are using that room and doing procedures every morning continues to surprise me,” said Dr. Jolly. “I have to remind myself that we're there, that we've done it now. I don't think that, with all the other things going on in terms of COVID and everything else, it's truly sunken in for myself or my colleagues yet.”

“There's not a lot of good news to go around right now, and so this is something that brings a smile to our faces, and we can tell patients, 'Look, we have some good news right now!'”