For the hundreds of thousands of patients who rely on Rouge Valley each year, it is reassuring to know they are being cared for in a modern healthcare facility with access to the most current medical technology available. Keeping pace with technological change is made easier thanks to the ongoing generosity of our many donors, who enable Rouge Valley to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and provide as comfortable a patient experience as possible—right here in our own community.

Generous donors have made a significant impact on the lives of both patients and staff at Rouge Valley. Listed below are just a few examples of how donors are helping improve patient care. Also check out the complete list of equipment purchases for 2008.

Metabolic Stress Testing Machine
Cardiology patients understand the benefits of rehabilitation at Rouge Valley Centenary’s Cardiac Rehab program. Here, Exercise Therapists help patients on the road to recovery. The Metabolic Stress Testing machine—purchased with funds raised during the Cardiac Care Program’s “Walk with Heart” walkathons—is used at the beginning and end of exercise programs.

While pedaling on a stationary bike, the patient breathes into a mouthpiece, and the machine collects the air. The machine analyzes the patient’s oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, and determines how the patient’s heart, lungs and muscles respond to exercise. This helps Exercise Therapists to create a customized exercise routine that, combined with diet and medication, can help patients recover.

Furnishings
For many patients, the loss of self-sufficiency can be devastating, especially when they’re already worried about their illness or injury.

Thanks to the generosity of Frank and Ethel Fernandez, the medicine and surgical recovery floors at Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering have two new clinical care recliners. These recliners with foot rests are more comfortable for our elderly patients, and they can be pushed around allowing the patient to join patients or family members throughout the ward.

Vital Signs Monitors
Basic measurements of a patient’s vital signs are one of the most frequently performed procedures in our hospitals. And having the right equipment to get quick, accurate results is important.

The vital signs monitors can accurately measure a patient’s blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and blood oxygen levels.

In 2008, proceeds from the City of Pickering Mayor’s Gala purchased 12 brand new vital signs monitors for Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering.

Sentinel Node Biopsy Equipment
Sentinel Node Biopsy Equipment is our new cancer screening technology that is crucial for patient care utilizing minimally-invasive surgery. Sentinel Lymph Node mapping uses dyes and radioactive substances to identify the first lymph node to which cancer is likely to spread from the primary tumour. Cancer cells may appear first in the sentinel node before spreading to other lymph nodes and other places in the body.

Standard lymph node removal involves surgery to remove most of the lymph nodes in the area of the tumour. In Sentinel Lymph Node biopsy, only one or a few sentinel nodes are removed. Sentinel Lymph Node biopsy may be done on an outpatient basis or require a short stay in the hospital.

Scope Washer
As the number of patients undergoing surgery has increased, the requirement for reduced wait times is greater. Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering hospital campus received an Automated Endoscope Reprocessor—commonly referred to as a Scope Washer—as a gift from the Town of Ajax.

This state-of-the-art Scope Washer features two fully-independent and asynchronous reprocessing basins for high-volume, quick endoscope turnaround, enabling improved volume of surgical patients that the department can see. It also ensures infection control for patient safety.

This vital piece of equipment will help ensure that every operating room is being used to its maximum potential to care for our growing community.