Toronto General Hospital Chamber

[Bubble Boy]

I am posting/forwarding this for OFWF's info:


July 25, 2003

To Members of the Diving Community:

Toronto General Hospital would like to thank you for your continuous and much-appreciated support for the TGH Hyperbaric Medicine Unit. We hope that we will be able to count on your support and understanding as we enter a new redevelopment phase. We would like to give you an update on our future plans for our current hyperbaric chamber.

As you may be aware, TGH was planning to install a new Fink Hyperbaric chamber from Australia in place of the old chamber. In order to keep the down time between chambers to a minimum, we installed a suitable chamber for the interim period only. To ensure optimal conditions for our staff and patients, we would like to upgrade the interim chamber. We are in the planning process of this upgrade.

Please be aware that due to a variety of factors, such as cost and space issues, we have now cancelled the Fink chamber option. Instead, we will be looking at other up-to-date chambers which will meet our patient population and staff needs, namely better critical care options. We are currently developing the specifications for such a chamber, and the Acting Hyperbaric Medical Director and Hyperbaric Practice Leader are leading this process, along with input from our staff.

We do not have a firm timeline when we will actually purchase a chamber, nor when such an installation will take place, as there are a number of factors we must consider, including: staff input; costs; and developing firm and agreed-upon contingency plans for our patients. Our initial planning phase will likely take many months, but we wanted to inform you as early as possible about our proposed plans.

We will keep you informed about any further developments, and we appreciate your continued support and good will as we move forward in ensuring that our Hyperbaric chamber meets the optimal needs of our patients and staff.

Please feel free to contact us should you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Ana Lopez

Hyperbaric Practice Leader

Alex Radkewycz

Public Affairs, TGH

 

[diverlady]

Thanks for the post, Bubble Boy!

Diverlady

 

[FreeFloat]

Does this mean they're "chamber-less" until they make up their minds about which chamber to install? Or is the "old" one still in place and functional?

 

[Marvintpa]

Considering that their original plan was to have the old chamber out of comission until the new one was ready, it looks like it was a good idea to implement the interim chamber (which only came after considerable complaints from several interested groups, including divers).

The Fink they had planned looked like it would be an exceptional piece of equipment... I hope the reduction in the amount of money/space now available does not mean that hyperbaric medicine is no longer viewed as positively or as importantly, as it was in the past.

Overall, I can't see this as a favourable development.

 

[wetbehindtheear]

What about some fundraising? Has this been tried before? Donations would be tax deductible, and could be restricted for purchase of equipment only or restricted to purchase and operating costs. If enough divers redirected their typical annual charitable donations from the united way or other agencies, this might help out significantly.