Hybrid OR, spinal surgery robot set for Saint John hospital

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More cutting-edge technology is headed to New Brunswick’s largest tertiary care hospital.

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A cardiac-enabled hybrid operating room – the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada – and a spinal surgery robot – one of just a handful across the country – will be added to the Saint John Regional Hospital.

A $10.5-million community fundraising campaign has been launched in support of the project, with $5.8 million of that already raised, the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation announced at a kickoff event held in Rothesay Thursday afternoon.

“The reality is to continue to deliver the best care possible at our hospital, we must continue to invest in technology that similar hospitals across Canada have invested in,” said Shannon Hunter, president and CEO of the regional hospital foundation, which has spearheaded fundraising efforts.

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The Holt Liberal government has signed off on the project and has committed to covering roughly $3 million worth of annual maintenance, licensing and other costs associated with the purchase of the equipment.

Earlier this year, the Liberals gave the green light to a hybrid operating room for Fredericton’s Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital, whose own foundation had been eager to get the project off the ground for years but couldn’t get traction under the previous Higgs Progressive Conservative government.

“Health care is a top priority for our government. Frankly, it got us elected,” Health Minister John Dornan told a crowd gathered at Thursday’s announcement.

“I think that all parties recognize that New Brunswickers need access – they need access to a family doctor but they also need access to such tertiary, quaternary levels of care like spinal robotics, like a hybrid OR.”

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Doctors behind the project say the new equipment will improve patient outcomes and help recruit young medical professionals to the province.

Doors are expected to open to Saint John’s hybrid OR in September 2027, according to Hunter. She expects spinal surgeries aided by the new robot could begin within a few months.

Hunter cautioned these timelines are dependent on reaching fundraising targets.

All told, the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation has $4.7 million left to raise for the project after already receiving three sizable donations: $1.5 million from Andrew K. McCain, $1.5 million from The McCain Foundation, and $1 million from the Sir James Dunn Foundation.

How the equipment will make a difference

A cardiac-enabled hybrid operating room will be “one of the most transformative tools” for the Saint John Regional Hospital, according to Dr. Jean-François Légaré, physician program lead of Horizon Health Network’s cardiac care program.

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Close to 4,800 cardiac procedures are performed annually at the regional hospital, which is home to the New Brunswick Heart Centre.

A hybrid operating room is equipped with both medical imaging and surgical equipment to allow doctors to diagnose and then perform procedures in one space.

“For cardiac surgery, this is potentially game-changing,” Légaré said. “Imagine a room where I could do complex heart operations that once required multiple stages – potentially days apart in different locations, transporting patients – and you can now complete these in a single place in a seamless operation.”

The new equipment is expected to result in less invasive surgeries, faster recovery times and better overall outcomes for patients. It’s also expected to increase cardiac procedure volume by five to 10 per cent and surgical capacity by 20 per cent.

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About one-third of all cardiac surgical cases will be handled in this new hybrid OR, Légaré said, freeing up other ORs and in turn reducing wait times for patients across the system.

The new spinal surgical robot is also designed to improve outcomes for patients, with better surgical precision, smaller incisions and faster recovery times expected.

About 380 spinal surgeries are performed annually at the Saint John Regional Hospital, which is also home to a donor-funded robot-assisted surgical system known as the da Vinci.

“What the (spinal surgical) robot allows me to do is pre-plan my surgeries in advance and then really quickly and really precisely execute on them in the OR on the day of the surgery because the OR isn’t the place to make plans and think of what you’re going to do,” said Dr. Christopher Small, an orthopedic and spine surgeon in Saint John.

“You want to get in there and execute quickly in a way that’s minimally invasive as possible and as reliable as possible, and the robot technology really allows us to do that.”

Only a handful of spinal surgical robots are in operation in Canada, and most of those are in larger cities like Vancouver and Halifax.

In addition to the equipment, Small said a fellowship and research program will be started as well as part of the Saint John Regional’s surgical robot project.

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