As a general surgeon, many of the patients I treat have been diagnosed with cancer, like Shirley Hunter whom I met last winter after a colon cancer diagnosis. Just yesterday I was in surgery, taking care of five women, each of whom were diagnosed with a form of breast cancer. Sadly, we are seeing an ever increasing need for cancer surgery, and interventions are becoming more complex.

Although it can be daunting for my patients to learn about their surgical procedure, the hardest part is the worry that comes with a new cancer diagnosis.

It’s not easy meeting patients on some of their darkest days—I feel for them. One thing I am so grateful for is to be able to assure them, and you, what amazing surgical teams we have at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals. Everyone works together to provide the best possible care for our Island patients; we are all about teamwork. On Sunday night, I was able to call a fellow surgeon about a challenging and complex case at 10 p.m., and she was happy to be of help. Since coming to Victoria to practice in 2016, I can attest that the level of surgical care in Victoria is second to none.

We have the right people, but our teams still rely on investments to help advance the technology and the care we provide. We have a wonderful Foundation and hundreds of supportive donors to thank for that. Excellence in care is made possible because of the tools Foundation donors generously place in our hands.

Donors are the ones who bring us to the forefront of surgical care. Our reality is that surgical work cannot evolve as quickly or efficiently without the support of our donors.

With that said, I cannot emphasize enough how elated I am that the Foundation and its donors will be making significant investments into surgical advancements in the near future. It’s rightfully time we move in a direction that expands surgical capacity and innovation in Victoria. We have two of the busiest hospitals in the country. We also have brilliant surgeons who are trained in the latest surgical techniques—just imagine what we could do with the latest tools and surgical technology.

I trained in minimally invasive and robotic surgery in London, Ontario years ago. It is time we bring the benefits of robotics to our Island patients: enhanced precision, improved visualization, minimized blood loss, and reduced risk of complications like infection. In colorectal cancer, for example, surgical infections are the most common complication, which may then delay chemotherapy. Robotics enhance our ability to perform minimally invasive surgery, which minimizes risk of infection, and helps patients to recover faster.

With robotics, we have increased versatility in our surgical treatments, which allows us to choose therapeutic options that will give the best results for patients at the highest standard of care.

Thank you to every Foundation donor who will see the opportunity to raise the bar when it comes to surgical care in our hospitals. I am so grateful to those who will be early supporters of what’s next. It means so much.

With gratitude,

— Dr. Heather Emmerton-Coughlin,
General Surgeon, Royal Jubilee & Victoria General hospitals