Stroke Prevention and Recovery

The Health Foundation fundraising campaign for the Stroke Prevention and Recovery Initiative has raised sufficient funds to buy and install the upgrade to the CT Scan and the brain perfusion software/hardware needed to analyze the effects of a stroke on a patient’s brain.

The Health Foundation is still raising money for the remaining two elements of the Stroke Initiative: the Stroke Prevention Clinic and the rehabilitation equipment for Therapies.

"This upgrade brings our CT Scan up to the new provincial standard, replacing the CT diagnostic workstation hardware/software. This will provide higher resolution images, increased productivity and improved diagnostic confidence," said Christopher Bohun, Stroke Services Manager for Sunrise Health Region. "As well, the perfusion software directly links to the Stroke Initiative, improving diagnosis and treatment for patients."

"So far our fundraising campaign has had strong success, and been supported by thousands of individuals as well as the business community, service clubs and communities," said Ross Fisher, Executive Director of The Health Foundation. "The CT scan upgrade and the brain perfusion module have a cost of $265,000. This is a big part of our fundraising campaign for this year, and support has been great, but we still need to raise another $150,000 to buy all of the equipment necessary to fully implement the Stroke Initiative."

This Stroke Initiative has been a two year program for The Health Foundation. Last year it raised funds to purchase the equipment needed to upgrade the cardiac services provided by Sunrise Health Region. That campaign was successful, and out of that campaign grew this Stroke Pilot Project partnership with the province.

"Once we complete the fundraising, and buy the equipment needed to fully implement this program we will have the best cardiac services in the province outside of Regina and Saskatoon. This program will be a significant improvement in our local healthcare.

"Right at the beginning of this news conference I want to say that the Board of The Health Foundation thinks this is an excellent program and is the type we like to support and work on. These are services not normally provided to health regions like ours.

"The Health Foundation likes to purchase equipment that will not be available to us otherwise. We do not like to buy equipment that should be purchased as part of normal operating budgets – we feel that equipment should be the responsibility of the government.

"We like to use the donations that people make to be able to leverage new services for our region. This Stroke Initiative will provide a completely new range of services to our residents, and services we need", Mr. Fisher said.

"We plan on opening the new Stroke Prevention Clinic before the end of the year," said Mr. Bohun. Renovations are currently underway in the Regional Health Centre to create the appropriate space that we need. The stroke clinic will be located on the first floor, close to the main entrance.

"The Clinic will feature two exam rooms, an echocardiogram suite, and a Telehealth consultation and education room. The nursing complement to the program is dedicated nurse practitioner time. The Telehealth consultation will be with a neurologist in Regina. We are very excited about the Telehealth component of this program, it is a new approach for us and has potential for expansion," he continued.

The Clinic will operate one day a week initially and has the potential to expand depending on demand and need. This will greatly improve access to assessment and care for residents.

A secondary benefit of the stroke clinic is that while many patients will be examined that have stroke like symptoms, many will end up not being at risk of a stroke. However, often other medical conditions can cause stroke like symptoms, like some tumours. By operating the clinic it is expected that many conditions will be diagnosed that might otherwise not be caught until much later.

"We know that a current average of over 500 persons within Sunrise Health Region will experience a TIA, known to many as a mini-stroke, this year. We expect that we could see those patients in the Stroke Clinic in the first year," continued Mr. Bohun.

"In addition to the Stoke Clinic a new rehabilitation program is being added to our therapies department; patients in our region who have suffered stroke will no longer have to go to the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre for treatment," said Mr. Bohun.

"Wascana does remarkable work, however they have a long waiting list, and it can take a patient several months sometimes before they are able to access treatment. There is significant evidence that shows delaying treatment hurts a patient’s chance for a full recovery", continued Mr. Bohun.

"The province has provided the funding, and we have hired four additional staff to be able to provide these new services to patients. In addition to increasing staff we also have dedicated three beds for in-patients. There is approximately $80,000 worth of new equipment needed to implement this new program."

This program will allow our residents much faster access to the treatment they need and will make it easier to access the services because they will be so much closer to home. It will also greatly reduce the expense of treatment as patients and families will no longer be going to and staying in Regina.

This is a very exciting program with a strong range of new programs for the residents of our region. We expect that up to 1,000 people will use these services every year, Mr. Bohun added.

"We hope that people will see the value of this program and support The Health Foundations fundraising campaign so that we can get all of the equipment we need for this program in place right away."