The Department of Anesthesia at Dalhousie University and Capital Health is doing a better job attracting and maintaining qualified anesthesiologists, according to a report it released yesterday.
The department recruited 29 anesthesiologists in HRM over the last three years, easing what had been a difficult shortage.
“The department has come a long way in the past several years and there is still work to be done,” department chair Michael Murphy said.
“We’ve become more efficient, been able to increase recruitment and have improved the quality of patient care.”
In 2005, a shortage of anesthesiologists sparked a reduction in cases being done in Halifax operating rooms.
Various initiatives since then have seen surgical procedures increase by 1,000 and operating hours grow by 2,200 hours.
“Today, we are pleased to report that the department is keeping and recruiting qualified physicians, doing more surgeries and attracting a significant invest-ment of research
dollars. The end goal is better results for our patients,” Murphy said.
