Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie is taking another step forward for heart health.
The hospital is installing a second state-of-the-art cardiac intervention suite to provide around the clock care for patients closer to home.
"If it happens after hours - once we have our program running here 24/7 - instead of having to go down to Southlake in Newmarket, patients could come directly to RVH," Dr. Tony Lee said.
The heart program is scheduled to begin in the spring in Simcoe County and expand to Muskoka by next fall.
Cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist Dr. Seeger Shen said that by October they plan to begin implanting new and replacement pacemakers. "Having this service available closer to home means that some pacemaker patients in this region will not have to travel outside the area to have their procedure."
RVH has completed more than 2,500 heart procedures since opening its regional heart program in January 2018.
"When it comes to the heart, time is muscle," stated Dr. Mark Kotowycz.
