Re: 鈥� 鈥楨xceptional medical talent鈥� at RJH,鈥� column, Feb. 15.
I was pleased to read the column praising the heart program at Royal Jubilee Hospital.
As a heart patient, I can attest to the competence of the cardiologists, surgeons, nurses and technologists at the Jubilee hospital. We are indeed fortunate to have such a first-class service available to us on Vancouver Island.
While I am grateful for the service I have received, in some ways I am becoming a robotic person. Three bypasses, a valve replacement, four stents and a pacemaker, all of it done at RJH. And now I have just been assessed for what is referred to as a TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve implant), a relatively new procedure available at only a few hospitals in sa国际传媒.
Unfortunately, the sa国际传媒 government in conjunction with Island Health is limiting the number of these procedures that can be done in any given year. I find the rationing of such a vital lifesaving procedure incredibly wrong. A TAVI is hardly an elective procedure; no one wants one unless they really need it. Furthermore, the only alternative is open-heart surgery, which can鈥檛 be less expensive.
Excellence should be rewarded, not restrained. I sincerely hope that the heart program at RJH receives the funding it needs and continues to thrive so that lives can be saved.
Don Thomson
Cobble Hill
