Letter: Celebrating Innovation and Inspiration

Letter: Celebrating Innovation and Inspiration
 
“The Department of Surgery is one of the leading lights at Burnaby Hospital. Despite our aging facility, we have made numerous advances to stay on the cutting edge. We have pioneered daycare total joint surgery in Fraser Health and province wide and have a central intake clinic for joint replacements that is the model for our health region. We have also been the first to integrate nurse practitioners in our post-operative care of patients in orthopaedics, and have provided a model and training setup for the region in this multi-disciplinary approach.
 
Our department has been awarded the prestigious National Surgical Quality Improvement Program “Meritorious” award 3 years in a row, for exceptionally low complication rates. This puts Burnaby Hospital in the top 10% of over 800 hospitals tracked in this program.
 
Our surgeons as well as contributing on the home front, also work internationally in humanitarian programs. Dr. Nelson and Dr. White have done cleft lip and palate surgery abroad, Dr. Cuddington has done numerous trips to Guatemala for general and cancer surgery, Dr. Truong just returned from a humanitarian surgical trip to Central America. And that’s not to mention the international work of our obstetrician/gynecologists. I have traveled to Ecuador 6 years in a row for a complex hip reconstruction program run in concert with a local hospital in Quito for the indigent population.
 
There are so many innovations that contribute to our department providing excellent surgery services. And all of the staff here in the hospital look forward to doing it in a modern and refurbished facility with improved safety, efficiency, and innovation!”
 
– Burnaby Hospital Orthopedic Surgeon and Burnaby Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees member, Dr. Tim Kostamo.

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Celebrate our health care heroes by learning more about our For the Love of Burnaby campaign.