New outpatient cardiology services coming shortly to Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital
Sainte-Anne-de-Kent, June 1, 2017 – Vitalité Health Network is announcing that new outpatient cardiology services will be coming shortly to the Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital in Sainte-Anne. An official ceremony took place today with a number of guests and dignitaries in attendance.
To explain the addition of these services, Gilles Lanteigne, President and CEO of the Network, indicated that the sources of patients receiving specialized outpatient services in the Southeast had been analyzed. “These analyses showed that in 2015-2016, patients from the Kent County area made nearly 2000 visits to outpatient cardiology at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre (UHC) in Moncton. We had to find a way to bring these patients closer to the services they need,” he stated. The addition of these services also supports one of the Network’s broad directions set out in its 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, namely to ensure fair access to care and services across the Network’s territory. “One of our areas for action involves implementing initiatives that will improve access to care and services, especially in rural areas, which is what we’re announcing this afternoon.”
The total cost of the project is nearly $550,000, which includes the renovation work, purchasing of equipment, and hiring of new staff. Mr. Lanteigne added that the cost of the required investments will be shared between Vitalité Health Network and the fondation Les Ami.e.s de l’Hôpital Stella-Maris-de-Kent. “The Network will cover the renovation costs as well as those related to normal operations, such as salary costs. For its part, the Foundation will be responsible for acquiring the new equipment, namely an examination stretcher, a treadmill, and a cardiac ultrasound unit,” he explained while confirming that the cost of the new equipment will be around $200,000.
The Foundation is launching a fundraising campaign to purchase the new equipment. “We are counting on people’s generosity in order to cover the entire cost of the units. I’m confident that we will reach our objective as planned and even exceed it,” declared Adélard Cormier, President of the fondation Les Ami.e.s de l’Hôpital Stella-Maris-de-Kent. Mr. Cormier was pleased to accept a cheque in the amount of $20,000 from the cardiologists of the Dr. Georges L. Dumont UHC to kick off the fundraising.
The outpatient cardiology services will be up and running at the hospital as of fall 2017 serving people three days per week. This schedule may be adjusted depending on needs. Dr. Jean François Baril, cardiologist, believes that “people will be pleased with these new services since they will benefit from receiving high quality examinations performed by new cutting-edge equipment closer to home.”
From left to right: Joey Caissie, Board member of the Fondation les Ami.e.s de l’Hôpital Stella-Maris-de-Kent, Adélard Cormier, President of Fondation les Ami.e.s de l’Hôpital Stella-Maris-de-Kent, Dr. Jean-François Baril, Cardiologist, Marthe Léger, manager of the Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital, and Gilles Lanteigne, President and CEO of Vitalité Health Network
