Jennifer Tory, Chair, Campaign for Sunnybrook
Because my volunteer work at Sunnybrook is well known by most of my friends, family and colleagues, I'm often asked what makes Sunnybrook so special. There are so many great hospitals, what sets Sunnybrook apart?
This is an important question and one that has many answers. But, there is one answer that goes to the core of what Sunnybrook does.
Sunnybrook cares for more people with their lives on the line than any other hospital in Ontario. Simply put, Sunnybrook is the place where the sickest people go for help.
Saving the lives of critically ill people is a mission that requires innovative answers to some of medicine's most difficult questions.
In this issue, you'll read about one such answer – minimally invasive procedures. These are treatments that don't involve opening up large parts of the body, but instead use small incisions – or no incisions at all – to deal with life-threatening conditions. Sunnybrook is leading the way in this area.
You'll read about testing the use of ultrasound to act as a scalpel to treat inoperable brain tumours. You'll read about how we are replacing defective heart valves without open-heart surgery.
These innovations are important for a number of reasons.
They save lives. These procedures can be done on patients too frail for traditional surgeries, who would have to simply live shortened lives with their conditions. They can treat disease in places where medical instruments simply can't reach.
They improve lives. Recovery from these procedures is shorter and less painful than traditional surgeries, getting patients back to their families sooner than ever before.
They save the health-care system money. They use fewer hospital resources and open up beds for new patients faster.
Sunnybrook is already Ontario's most efficient hospital but our innovations in minimally invasive treatments are about more than efficiency. They're about saving lives.
That's what makes Sunnybrook different.
There's so much more in this issue, too. As always, I hope you find information that is helpful to you or someone you know. Because this magazine is meant to be a resource for you, please tell me what you'd like to know more about.
Just e-mail me at jennifer@sunnybrook.ca.
Jennifer Tory
Chair,
Campaign for Sunnybrook