Surrey cardiologists advocate for heart patients, request meeting with health minister

A group of cardiologists in Surrey have asked for a meeting with B.C.’s health minister to discuss what they say is an urgent need for more specialized services for critically ill heart patients.

Dr. Courtney Young said Surrey Memorial Hospital’s emergency department is one of the busiest in the country, seeing 175,000 patients each year. 

“We serve a large population base of anywhere between 600,000 and 800,000 patients, and that population is growing rapidly,” she said.

Every day, Surrey Memorial's emergency doctors care for about five patients with heart attacks.

“The demographic that we serve is also a very unique population in that it’s primarily South Asians, (who) are known to have…significant heart disease,” explained Young, speaking in her role as a cardiologist, though she also heads up the hospital’s cardiology department.

But Young said the hospital doesn’t have its own catheterization lab, meaning patients often need to be transported to Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster or to a Vancouver hospital.

“It means delays in care, delays in definitive management, which can ultimately result in poor outcomes – which in a worse case scenario can mean death,” Young said.

“Surrey is one of the fastest growing large cities in Canada, and Surrey is the only large Canadian city that does not have a cath lab,” said Jane Adams, CEO of the Surrey Hospital Foundation.

Two years ago, Surrey physician Andy Jassal, 42, had a heart attack in the parking lot of the hospital, and a second heart attack inside emergency.

On Tuesday, his widow told CTV News that she wonders whether he might still be alive if Surrey had more specialized equipment for critical heart patients.

“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?” asked Nav Jassal.

A group of Surrey cardiologists has sent a letter to Health Minister Adrian Dix and Fraser Health, outlining what they say is an urgent need for an angiogram lab.

Dr. Young said she is optimistic the minister will meet with them.

In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry of Health said that it is “assessing the request these health-care providers are proposing, and as part of this, we need to consider the availability of similar services in the region. As we are considering this request, we do not have any further details to share at this time.”

CTV News also requested information from Fraser Health, which said that its regional cardiac network is “reviewing projected population growth and demand for cardiac catheterization lab services in the coming years, with the intention of submitting a business case to the Ministry of Health.”

“In addition to the cardiac catheterization lab, we have identified additional clinical service enhancements for Surrey and our region and proposals are being submitted,” Fraser Health said.

“We’re very happy to hear that Fraser Health and the government are looking at funding more specialized services in Surrey,” Adams said.

Fraser Health is one of the fastest-growing health authorities in Canada, with its population expected to increased by about 16 per cent to more than 2.3 million people by 2032.

“By that time, the City of Surrey is expected to have grown by 25 per cent to nearly 755,000 people and will potentially be the largest city in BC. Surrey is a diverse community, with new Canadians making up approximately 40 per cent of the population,” Fraser Health wrote in a statement.