Hospital holds official launch for Bariatric Centre

Although it officially launched Wednesday, a new facility at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre already has a year’s worth of patients and is looking forward to expansion.

The Regional Bariatric Care Centre focuses on pre- and post-operative care for gastric bypass surgery. Since it opened its specially designed wide doors in July the centre has already had 300 patients referred to it and has conducted initial assessments with 150 candidates for the surgery.

Medical Director Asiru Abu-Bakare said while the centre doesn’t conduct the laparoscopic Roux-en Y Gastric Bypass surgery right now, the centre helps patients get ready for the surgery in Hamilton and the five years of consultation required after the surgery is performed.

"It’s not just surgery there are other things that will need to follow the surgery," he said. "There are dietary changes there are attitude changes."

Along with specially designed hallways, chairs and beds, the centre has two dieticians, physicians and a psychologists on-site to help patients. TBRHSC director of surgical services Brent Maranzan said the surgery is the best way to combat obesity, but there’s a common misconception that it’s the easy way out from a disease affecting 47,000 people in Northwestern Ontario.

The centre will help assess patients to see if they are ready for the procedure and make sure they are committed to the process.

"It’s really the most effective treatment for morbid obesity out there right now but it’s also not for everybody," he said. "Because potentially you can make yourself more sick with the surgery if it’s not right for you."

Patient and family advisor Verna Dubray knows how committed a patient has to be to the process. Once 405 pounds, Dubray had the surgery eight years ago, but had to go to the U.S. for it.

Alone in a foreign hospital for days, Dubray said her struggle would have been much easier if the regional centre had existed.

"If it all happened here I’d have a huge support system," said Dubray.
Since the surgery, Dubray has lost more than 200 pound.

The next step is having the procedure performed in Thunder Bay so patients can have total coverage in the region. Asked by the Ministry of Health to submit a proposal, Maranzan said the details are already being worked out but couldn’t commit to a specific timeline when the surgery would be here in Thunder Bay.

Northwestern Ontario has the second-highest obesity rate in Ontario at 25.9 per cent.