LGH anesthesiologist dearth hits home

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca

When Carolyn Moss went in for foot surgery, she never expected to feel a thing.

But with the Lakeshore General Hospital in the midst of a three-month anesthesiologist shortage, her only option on the day of her surgery was local anesthetic.

“I could feel the knife scraping away at the bone,” said the 64-year-old, whose foot was frozen during surgery. “It was awful.”

She said the pain, caused by a tourniquet wrapped around the lower end of her unfrozen leg, was “excruciating” as it dug into the back of her heel.

“This was really a nightmare for me,” Moss said. “I was living it for days after.”

She said the doctor and nurses were “great” during the operation, but there was little they could do to control her pain.

Moss was scheduled to receive general anesthetic, but was told shortly after arriving at the hospital that there was no anesthesiologist on duty. She was given the choice to either proceed with local anesthetic and painkillers, or make a new appointment and come back in a couple of months.

The Dollard des Ormeaux resident opted for surgery to relieve the persistent ache in her foot caused by the osteoarthritis.

Moss said she should have been told about the lack of anesthesiologists earlier.

“For me, a hospital of that size, it doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “We’re talking about a major hospital in the West Island.”

Moss works with local seniors’ groups and is a long-time volunteer in the region.“I know what people’s fears are and you can’t dismiss them.”

The LGH has suffered from an anesthesiologist shortage since a staff member retired in December - reducing its stable of pain-management specialists to three full-time employees and one part-timer.

To keep the operating rooms running at the same pace, the Pointe Claire institution began performing evening surgeries at the end of January.

West Island Health and Social Services Centre spokesman Louis-Pascal Cyr said two of the LGH’s anesthesiologists took holidays on the day of Moss’ surgery, but gave only five days notice.

Cyr said the hospital advised doctors to postpone scheduled surgeries, but Moss’ orthopaedic surgeon decided to ask patients when they arrived.

“We do feel that the patient should have had some warning beforehand,” he said. “This is a situation directly related to the shortage of anesthesiologists.”

Cyr said the anesthesiologist deficiency has put the hospital at the mercy of last-minute changes.

In the meantime, the health centre has been busy trying to recruit another specialist.

“We’re looking but it’s very hard,” Cyr said, adding the anesthesiologist shortage is being felt across the province.

Until a new specialist is hired, the LGH is looking at possible short-term remedies.

“We’re going to look deeply into what can be done with local anesthetic,” Cyr said. “When something can be done (with) local (anesthetic), we’ll look at it and suggest it to the patient.”

Still, Cyr said on top of all its problems, the hospital has been able to perform surgeries in a relatively short waiting time.