HSC’s redeveloped plastic surgery clinic to reduce wait times

A redeveloped plastic surgery clinic at the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) will reduce wait times and improve outcomes for plastic surgery patients in Manitoba.

The HSC Foundation unveiled the redeveloped clinic on Thursday, announcing that it now offers an advanced plastic surgery procedure room, which is the first of its kind in Canada.

This procedure room has the same equipment and design standards as a general operating room. It will allow 85 per cent of plastic surgery trauma patients, who would have previously needed one of HSC’s main operating rooms, to be treated at the plastic surgery clinic. Many patients will also be able to go home on the same day.

It’s estimated that this room will free up 49 operative days per year in the hospital’s general operating rooms.

“The advanced procedure room features the latest imaging equipment available for plastic surgery and has the same design, lighting and ventilation standards as a general operating room,” said Jonathon Lyon, president and CEO of the HSC Foundation.

The new clinic, which has been operating since last fall, offers 10 procedure rooms -- eight more rooms than before the redevelopment. It will also allow plastic surgery patients who don’t require general anesthetic to be moved from the operating room to the clinic.

These updates will improve wait times and free up space, time and resources.

“We are seeing the successes of this operating room, the clinic, our procedures rooms, and we see this because patients are waiting less time and being treated more and more point-of-contact care,” said Dr. Ed Buchel, surgery site director.

HSC’s plastic surgery clinic treats patients with urgent concerns including hand surgery, non-cosmetic plastic surgery and other specialized treatments. The redevelopment was funded through $1.8 million in donations to the HSC Foundation.

“What we’re celebrating today is far more than aesthetics,” Lyon said.

“This new space has been operating since November 2022 and is already producing outstanding patient outcomes."