Striving for better results through medical innovation

As a world-class innovator in medical care, research and teaching, VCH’s readiness to work together across professional disciplines, to take risks and defy convention and to build the right partnerships has helped accelerate ideas through research and discovery and in developing improvement to health care.

A team at Vancouver General Hospital performed Canada’s first overstitch procedure. The team successfully used the overstitch with an endoscope to suture a chronic leak in a patient’s bowel, a less-invasive procedure than traditional surgery. 

The Health Canada approved overstitch device enables new treatments for a variety of gastrointestinal disorders and promises a less invasive option with faster recovery compared to some traditional surgeries. It will likely be used in an increasing number of procedures, potentially helping hundreds of patients every year.

The Hyperbaric Oxygen Unit at Vancouver General Hospital has increased its output by 75 per cent, delivering hyperbaric oxygen therapy sooner to patients from across B.C. 

“In an average day, the team sees patients from all walks of life, from recovering cancer patients to young people experiencing sudden hearing loss, through to those grappling with diabetes complications," said Dr. Afshin Khazei, Medical Lead, Hyperbaric Oxygen Unit, VCH. “One thing they all have in common is the benefit they receive from hyperbaric oxygen therapy. And now we've been able to go from treating 16 patients a day to 28, which is a significant increase."

The unit's submarine-like chamber creates a pressurized environment to deliver high levels of oxygen to groups of patients during two-hour “dives." Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is commonly known to treat carbon monoxide poisoning and decompression sickness in scuba divers, however, the treatment has been incredibly effective for many conditions, including repairing tissue and organ damage from cancer radiation therapy and preventing limb amputation in patients with diabetes complications.

VGH's Hyperbaric Oxygen Unit is the province's only referral site for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Less than three years ago, it operated just two dives a day. 

With the support of a VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation donor, the unit set out to trial three daily dives in 2022. Within nine months, they saw a 32 per cent increase in output, with 1,200 additional treatments and a decrease in wait list times. The data continued to show sustained improvement to patient outcomes. By spring 2024, the unit was approved for four dives per day.

When it comes to stroke diagnosis and treatment, timing is everything. To treat strokes quickly and effectively, a treatment called Endovascular Therapy may be used to remove clots and restore blood flow to the brain, but this treatment was previously only available at Vancouver General Hospital.

A team across VCH is piloting an exciting initiative that will expand the use of AI-driven imaging software to hospitals on the central coast. This technology will quickly analyze CT scans, determining the severity of a stroke and alerting Vancouver General Hospital neurologists right away if treatment is needed.

“We want to make sure that following a stroke, individuals living in coastal communities get access to the care they need quickly," said Kelly Sharp, Regional Stroke Lead, VCH. “Three teams across VCH are piloting an exciting initiative that will expand the use of AI-driven imaging software to our hospitals located on the central coast.”

Minimizing the time to treatment is critical for preventing brain damage and improving recovery and Indigenous people living in remote communities face a higher risk of stroke. Now rural and remote hospitals can provide more equitable access to stroke diagnosis and treatment.