Redefining leading edge medicine with Atlantic Canada’s first hybrid operating room

A great deal of preparation has gone into the planning and designing of Atlantic Canada's first hybrid operating room (OR). 

The hybrid OR will be located on the fifth floor of the Halifax Infirmary (HI) site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre and will feature state of the art medical imaging equipment that will allow for highly complex advanced surgical procedures. 

It will offer the capability to perform image-guided procedures through small incisions, minimizing pain and speeding up recovery. 

Dr. Greg Hirsch, senior medical director of perioperative (surgical) surgeries recently told CBC that "the new hybrid OR will allow us to reach Nova Scotians who have major disease in their arteries around their heart and in their belly and problems with heart valves in a less-invasive way with the assurance that we can back that up with an invasive approach."

The new hybrid OR is 40 per cent larger than existing ORs. The next steps in construction include the completion of the two new interventional radiology suites on the third floor of the HI. 

Once complete, hoarding walls can be added to start the expansion of the current operating room, in order to make space for the addition of the hybrid OR technology, equipment and control room.  

The new hybrid OR will be named after Stewart Allen, founder of Sparkling Spring water in Truro and local philanthropist. 

Allen donated $1 million to the QEII Foundation in support of the hybrid OR, which paved the way for the foundation to raise an additional $4 million needed to support the purchasing of new surgical technology and equipment. 

The hybrid OR is expected to be complete summer 2021.