Doctor’s widow frustrated by lack of specialized equipment for Surrey heart patients
As a family physician, Dr. Andy Jassal often voiced his concerns about the lack of resources he and his colleagues faced in treating patients in a timely manner.
But now, it is his widow advocating for better patient care in her husband’s memory.
Andy Jassal died of a heart attack at the age of 42.
Two years later, his widow says she is frustrated Surrey Memorial still lacks some specialized equipment for heart patients and wonders if the hospital had its own angiogram lab, whether her late husband might still be alive.
“I’m not sure,” said Nav Jassal. “All I know is that Andy never got that opportunity.”
She said her husband had no prior health issues, but suddenly in March of 2021, he fell ill. He drove himself to the hospital.
“He collapsed outside the hospital with a heart attack,” she said.
Doctors would try and stabilize him, knowing he would need to be transported to Royal Columbian, the closest facility with the specialized care he would need.
“Before they could do anything about transporting him to unplug his artery, essentially of a clot that was causing the heart attack, he went into another cardiac arrest,” she said.
“If Surrey Memorial had the facility to treat the clot, could they have wheeled him down to that lab right away as he was suffering that second heart attack and could that artery been unplugged?” Jassal, asked, wondering if the outcome could have been different.
“I’m not sure. All I know is that Andy never got that opportunity and that is something very difficult for me to reconcile with,” she said.
Nav Jassal said she is surprised that the hospital in B.C.’s second largest city doesn’t have an angiogram lab.
Dr. Kapil Bhagirath, a cardiologist at Surrey Memorial, was a long-time friend of Andy Jassal's.
“I can’t help but wonder that if we had an angiogram just down the hallways in the most serious type of cardiac arrest that he had, that perhaps the outcome would have been different,” he said.
Bhagirath says about five patients a day arrive at Surrey’s hospital needing treatment for heart attacks and he says the care they receive is good. But he says for some patients, Surrey simply doesn’t have the resources they need.
“We try our best every day to manage with the resources that we have, but the frustration level is high. And I wish that we could do more in these really serious types of heart attacks,” he said, explaining that while Vancouver has two angiogram labs, there is only one in the Fraser Health region at Royal Columbian Hospital.
“When there is a heart attack with a cardiac arrest, you really need the ability to open up that artery as soon as possible and the transport issues can be a huge hindrance,” Dr. Bhagirath explained.
A new lab would cost millions to start up, but the doctor said it’s really the ongoing operating costs that need a commitment of government funding.
The health minister told CTV News that he’s just received a proposal for an angiogram facility.
“If you look at the entire Fraser Health region, if you were going to expand that service, you would have to assess where the best place to put that service is,” said Adrian Dix.
“It’s a healthcare system that isn’t governed by municipal borders,” he said, adding that he agrees more services are needed, but that there are other places in B.C. where the travel distance is far greater than from Surrey to Royal Columbian in New Westminster.
While the minister considers the proposal, Nav Jassal said she will continue to fight for better care for heart patients.
She said it’s what her late husband would have wanted.
‘He had a good heart. He cared for his family, his children, for his patients and the community,” she said.
“He was a noble man. He really was.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6977430.1721929538!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'There's mom and dad's house': New video appears to show destruction of Jasper neighbourhood
Video posted to social media on Thursday morning appears to show the charred remains of a Jasper, Alta., neighbourhood.
LIVE UPDATES Multiple homes, businesses 'lost' to wildfire in Jasper National Park: Parks Canada
Officials from Parks Canada and Jasper say "multiple structures, including a number of businesses and homes, in and around the town of Jasper, have been lost" to wildfire in Jasper National Park.
Prince William's 2023 salary revealed in new report
Newly released financial reports show that William, the Prince of Wales, drew a salary of $42.1 million last fiscal year, his first since inheriting the vast and lucrative Duchy of Cornwall.
Alberta premier says a third, perhaps half, of all Jasper buildings destroyed by fire
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says early reports indicate a third and perhaps up to half of all buildings in the historic Rocky Mountain resort town of Jasper have been destroyed in a wildfire.
Canada to bring home fewest Olympic medals since 2012, according to forecaster
Fewer Canadians are expected to reach the Paris podium than in the previous two Olympic Summer Games, a global data analytics company predicts.
Jennifer Aniston criticizes JD Vance for 'childless cat ladies' remarks: 'I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children'
Jennifer Aniston is criticizing JD Vance for comments he made in his past about women without children.
'Skibidi Toilet:' If you don't know what it is, you will
'Skibidi Toilet' is already an internet sensation and now its about to get even more exposure after the YouTube series is being developed for TV and film, according to a report by Variety.
NASA says no return date yet for astronauts and Boeing capsule at space station
Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule, officials said Thursday.
French sprinter will wear a cap during Olympic opening ceremony after hijab dispute is resolved
French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla will be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics wearing a cap to cover her hair, an agreement reached with the French Olympic Committee after Sylla said she was barred because of her hijab.