Interior Health (IH) is bringing heart imaging closer to Revelstoke patients than ever, with the launch of a new service at the city's hospital.
Rather than drive at least 80 minutes to Shuswap Lake General Hospital, those in Revelstoke can now visit their own Queen Victoria Hospital for an echocardiogram test (echo), which uses ultrasound waves to form a 2D image of a human heart.
It's an important service for monitoring heart conditions, assessing blood flow and identifying possible signs of cardiovascular disease.
"These detailed pictures of your heart are taken to show the shape, texture and movement of your heart muscle and heart valves, as well as the size of your heart chambers and how well your heart muscle is working," IH explains online.
Queen Victoria Hospital already began administering some tests starting Thursday, May 22, in a soft launch with about eight patients. However, Kim Mead, professional practice lead for medical imaging at Queen Victoria Hospital, explained the service will officially be offered to the public as of July 2, when full-time staffing becomes available.
Mead, also trained as a medical radiation technologist, said the capacity for echos is projected at 500 to 700 per year, and will be available strictly on a medical-referral basis. A whole new room has been created in the hospital's medical imaging ward specifically for echos, where staff will conduct the tests using a echocardiogram machine designed by Philips Healthcare of Mississauga, Ont.
"There was a specific population in Revelstoke that was especially underutilizing the test," she said. "Sometimes (residents) were having to go as far as Kelowna."
Not only did this raise concerns for patients health, but inpatients and emergency patients in particular were relying on BC Ambulance Service's Revelstoke station to transport them far outside the community for echocardiogram services.
"A lot of days, they can't give up an ambulance in Revelstoke," Mead reasoned, noting the new service at Queen Elizabeth Hospital takes a burden off both local patients and emergency services.
And while "this tends to be a test on patients over the age of 50," she continued, "definitely there's no limit" as long as the referred patient is eight years or older.
Anyone requesting an echo on referral is asked to confirm with their health-care provider what type of test they need, as this will dictate the hospital and instructions for patients to prepare. There are several types of standard echos, according to the Stanford Medical Center and MyHealth Alberta.
Transthoracic echos are most common and non-invasive, happening entirely outside the body along the chest. Stress echos deliberately increase a patient's heart rate and blood pressure to test for decreased blood flow. Transesophageal echos happen by guiding an ultrasound probe down the esophagus, providing higher-quality images. Doppler echos are used to assess blood flow through heart chambers and valves, and can be performed during other echos.
Less common types of echocardiogram tests include M-mode echos, which Stanford says are the simplest option and just trace a sketch of the heart, rather than creating a detailed picture. There can also be options for 3D echos, to provide more than just a standard flat image, and intracardiac echos, which are a newer method that's actually done inside the heart.
Leading efforts to fundraise for this new echocardiogram equipment was Revelstoke District Health Foundation, which within just 48 hours of Giving Tuesday on Dec. 3, 2024, rallied its target of $250,000. Mead said the Revelstoke Hospital Auxiliary Society was also engaged, and thanked the wider community for its generosity.
"We wouldn't have seen this happen without their full support," Mead recognized, adding she looks forward to having this service available for Golden and Nakusp residents as well to halve their multi-hour travel time to the nearest hospital with echocardiogram testing.
Steven Hui, Revelstoke District Health Foundation's board chair, said Revelstoke's Jack and Sandi McKinnon made a substantial contribution of $100,000 but noted donations also continued to trickle in for weeks after, bringing the fundraiser pool to about $270,000 now.
"We're actually sitting in a very good position to pay everything," he said, adding that the idea for an echocardiogram machine at the hospital came to the table back around early spring of 2024.
Hui noted Mead was especially instrumental in advocating for the implementation of echocardiogram testing.
By last November, Revelstoke District Health Foundation was approaching the community for smaller donations, to build momentum for a larger fundraising campaign for technology that Mead said costs $230,000 for the machine itself and another $20,000 for a stretcher bed and additional bits and pieces.
"I was over the top, as you can imagine," Hui said of the fundraising success. "The community is very understanding and supportive here."
