Ottawa heart surgeons will make monthly trips to N.L. to help deal with backlog, says Eastern Health

The Newfoundland and Labrador government is looking outside the province for help with its months-long wait-list for cardiac surgery.

Eastern Health has reached an agreement with the Heart Institute at the University of Ottawa that will either bring Ottawa surgeons to Newfoundland and Labrador or send patients to Ottawa for surgery.

"We just need a little bit of help right now," said Premier Andrew Furey on Thursday, announcing the agreement.

Surgeons from the Ottawa Heart Institute will make monthly trips to Newfoundland and Labrador. Eastern Health CEO David Diamond said patients will also be sent to Ottawa for surgery as a "temporary measure" to deal with the backlog of about 150 heart surgeries.

Neither of those measures are entirely new.

Eastern Health has been relying on doctors from Ottawa to deal with a shortage of heart surgeons in Newfoundland and Labrador since 2020, and patients from the province are already routinely sent to Ottawa for complex surgeries like heart transplants.

For Eastern Health's clinical chief of cardiac care, Dr. Sean Connors, an acceptable wait-list would consist of 50 to 60 patients — or about six weeks for outpatient surgeries.

"What we'd like to do is to be able to give someone a date for their surgery," he said.

Connors said the partnership with the Ottawa Heart Institute will give cardiac care in Newfoundland and Labrador extra capacity and flow for patients. The agreement is for five years but is renewable, said Connors.

According to Connors, there are currently 13 cardiologists and three heart surgeons in Newfoundland and Labrador. One of those surgeons recently resigned, but another is arriving July 1.

Connors said Eastern Health is looking to add a fourth surgeon to its roster.

Interim Progressive Conservative Leader David Brazil said he's in favour of the partnership but was underwhelmed by Thursday's announcement.

"We literally thought — I was actually excited — thought it was going to be the announcement of the cardiac centre of excellence that Dr. Connors and his team have been lobbying for," he said.

Connors told reporters he'd "love to see" a Newfoundland and Labrador cardiac institute, saying it could look like Eastern Health's existing cancer-care program.