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British Columbia
Twins joined at
brain may be separated
VANCOUVER —
Doctors at the BC Chil-dren's Hospital in Vancouver
recently performed a cerebral angiography on BC's first-ever
twins conjoined at the brain, Tatiana and Krista, to
examine blood vessels connecting the girls' brains,
and to determine the risk of separation. If the connecting
bridge of tissue turns out to be only tissue, rather
than a means of transmitting brain signals, surgery
may be performed. A decision could come as soon as mid-May.
Meanwhile, their 21-year-old mother Felicia Simms and
step-father Doug McKay say they feel blessed to have
two daughters regardless of the test results and outcome.
LD
Alberta
Jocks like lady
docs
CALGARY —
Athletes of both genders tend to prefer female team
physicians, according to a survey conducted by Uni-versity
of Alberta researcher and sports medicine consultant
Dr Marni Wesner. Ninety-four percent of male athletes,
and all female athletes, said they prefer a female doctor.
The percentage of the males dropped to 76% when it came
to sexual health issues. Dr Wesner warns that women
have an "uphill battle" in sports medicine; all CFL
and NHL team physicians are men. GE
Saskatchewan
Redirected federal
money builds new SK surgery centre
REGINA —
Thanks to $25 million received from Ottawa recently
to help the province establish a wait times guarantee,
Health Minister Len Taylor has announced that a new
$14 million day surgery centre will be built in Regina.
The facility will be equipped with three operating rooms
and two procedure rooms and will have the potential
to complete about 5,000 cataract surgeries and 4,000
other procedures each year. Mr Taylor said the federal
money — which was awarded to the province for committing
to a cardiac bypass surgery wait times guarantee —
will also be used to upgrade existing hospitals and
reduce wait times. TJ
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Manitoba
Premier promises
100 new doctors
WINNIPEG —
In a bold election pledge, Premier Gary Doer has promised
to hire 100 new doctors over the next four years if
his New Democrats are re-elected on May 22 when Manitobans
go to the polls. "It is over $5 million in new money
that we are committing to doctor increases here in the
province of Manitoba," said Mr Doer to the Winnipeg
Sun. To help fill the void, Premier Doer said he'd
create ten new spaces at the University of Manitoba
school of medicine and ten new spaces in the International
Medical Graduate residency training program. HA
Hot
Spot
Ontario
Tony Fell blasts
LHINs
QUEEN'S PARK —
A major blow has been dealt to the Toronto Central Local
Health Integration Network (LHIN), as influential banker
and experienced healthcare crusader Tony Fell resigned
from its board of directors with a blistering four-page
letter obtained by the Toronto Star. Mr Fell complained
of the Ministry of Health's "political" appointments
to the unelected LHIN boards and the low priority accorded
to e-health by the government. "An advan-ced e-health
system could save many billions of dollars annually
while, at the same time, providing vastly improved service
and care to our citizens and a major reduction in medical
errors," he wrote in capital letters. Mr Fell's resignation
comes just several weeks after the LHIN officially took
power in the district. JJM
Quebec
IMGs shut out despite
shortage
MONTREAL —
There are numerous residency positions available in
Quebec hospitals — 65 in family medicine and 14
in internal medicine — and they are not being filled,
reports the Montreal Gazette. The problem, according
to Dr Paul Rainsberry, director of education of the
College of Family Physicians of Canada, is that medical
students are fleeing Quebec to study elsewhere, due
to restrictions placed on where they can practise. Meanwhile,
at least 200 international medical graduates (IMGs)
are trying desperately to fill the void, but continue
to encounter numerous obstacles from authorities. DB
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