A nearly $3-million facility to shave wait times for colonoscopies is under construction and set to open early next year at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
Janice Perrino, chief executive of the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation, said in a statement that the endoscopy suite is desperately needed to reduce wait times and provide more colonoscopies and endoscopies.
Up to 50 more colonoscopies will be performed weekly once the new suite is in place.
The hospital currently has two endoscopy suites — which refers to a room with all necessary equipment for the procedure — and the third suite will be built adjacent to them as an addition to the hospital.
Demand has risen as the area’s population has grown, said Sharon Parkes, Island Health’s director of surgery, ambulatory care and cancer-care strategy.
“There’s definitely been an increase in demand in the Nanaimo area over the last few years. That’s why we have invested in this room.”
An endoscope is a long tube with a light and small camera on the end that is used to examine internal organs, such as the esophagus, stomach, lungs and colon. The endoscope may have tools inside it to remove polyps, for example.
The new suite will handle colonoscopies, which go in through the rectum to examine the large intestine, and gastroscopies, which examine the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract.
Since October 2018, colonoscopy services have been provided at the Nanaimo hospital seven days a week, up from five, to help reduce wait times.
Between April 1, 2019, and March 31 of this year, a total of 4,116 colonoscopies were carried out. As of the end of March, there were about 1,500 people on the wait list.
The benchmark for performing a colonoscopy following a positive result in a stool-screening test is 60 days.
In Nanaimo, about 72 per cent of colonoscopies are completed within that time frame, Parkes said — up from 69 per cent in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
“It definitely has improved over the last year, because we have been running weekend service,” she said, praising surgeons who agreed to perform the procedure on weekends. “We are going in the right direction and, hopefully, with this new room, we will be able to improve more.”
Nanaimo is also catching up after COVID-19 restrictions limited the number of colonoscopies for 12 weeks to only those deemed most critical.
Weekend procedures are expected to continue until the end of this fiscal year, when they will be reassessed, with respect to volumes, demand and whether physicians want to continue, Parkes said. General surgeons carry out the procedures.
Construction of the addition is expected to finish this year and the new suite should be in service in January, she said.
The $2.92-million new suite is being paid for by the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation, which is contributing $1.75 million, and by the Regional Hospital District, which is putting in $1.17 million. The province pays for operating costs.
