RENFREW — Renfrew Victoria Hospital and The Ottawa Hospital continue to build on decades-long partnerships that enable seamless, quality, care close to home for Renfrew and area residents with the recent integration of surgical, urology and gynecology services.
“We had three specialist/clinic vacancies—surgery, gynecology and urology—at the same time, said Randy Penney, RVH president and CEO. “Rather than RVH trying to recruit in isolation, we collaborated with The Ottawa Hospital to bring these services to RVH.”
On Tuesday, October 30, RVH and The Ottawa Hospital made a joint announcement that Dr. David Carver, General Surgeon, has been chosen to take on the newly minted role of Site Chief of Surgical Services at RVH. Dr. Carver has gained valuable experience as a clinical scholar with Trauma Services and the Division of General Surgery at The Ottawa Hospital, as well as having provided surgical assistance and locum coverage at RVH for the past few months.
“I was impressed by the friendly work environment as well as the pride the team at RVH took in providing high quality care for their patients. I am excited at the prospect of joining a community and a team like this,” said Dr. Carver.
The site chief role will be part of an integrated surgical program with The Ottawa Hospital. The site chief will have an office at RVH and will report to RVH as well as having full accountability to the Division of General Surgery at The Ottawa Hospital /University of Ottawa. This arrangement is a first in our region.
“With this collaboration, clinical competency, critical mass and patient safety will be monitored by The Ottawa Hospital,” said Mr. Penney.
Collaboration between the two organizations also resulted in the implementation of urology services at RVH in September to further enhance patient care in our community. Six The Ottawa Hospital physicians—Dr. J. Stuart Oake, Dr. Matthew Roberts, Dr. Neal Rowe, Dr. Jeremy Setterfield, Dr. Jeffrey Warren and Dr. Conrad Maciejewski—provide a variety of urological services one day a week in RVH’s ambulatory care clinic.
In May 2018, Drs. Nika Alavi, Sony Singh and Cici Zhu from the Ottawa Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology began providing weekly gynecology services for women in our region as part of the RVH ambulatory care clinics. Their services include consults, office procedures and some minor surgeries.
Links between The Ottawa Hospital and RVH have already been established in nephrology/dialysis, cancer services, radiology, Telehealth and more.
Dr. Jack Kitts, EO of The Ottawa Hospital, said, “Patients tell us that getting the best care, closest to home is what’s important to them and their loved ones. Today’s announcement does just that with surgeons and staff from The Ottawa Hospital and Renfrew Victoria Hospital working even more closely together to provide quality care and a better patient experience. I would like recognize the leadership at both hospitals for making this partnership happen.”
