Montreal Heart Institute team wants to get back to cardiac patients

Doctors worry about heart patients A team from the Montreal Heart Institute was sent in to help at the Vigi Home last week, but now they’re worried about the cardiac patients.

MONTREAL — A team from the Montreal Heart Institute was sent to the Vigi Mont Royal care home in TMR last week to help deal with a bad COVID-19 outbreak, but now those team members are wondering how long they’ll have to stay because they have cardiac patients waiting.

“We’ve sent 35-40 people there, but our mission and our specialty is cardiology and there are a lot of sick cardiac patients out there,” said chief of medicine and cardiology Peter Guerra. “We want to lend a helping hand but want to get back to our regular jobs soon.”

Guerra said his team has put in place new conditions and that staff should not be afraid to return.

“The resources that are sick or are scared to come to work have to come back, and see that we’ve set up a structure that’s safe,” said Guerra. “When we leave, the structure will remain in place to ensure the safety of the patients and staff.”

Guerra said it’s time for his staff to return to their patients.

“In cardiology, time is of the essence,” he said. “The longer we wait to get to normal cardiac care for our patients, the more important the consequences. Cardiac disease doesn’t take a holiday. Cardiac disease can be sudden, acute and deadly. We don’t have time to waste. Surgery has to restart at full throttle.”

Andre Leblanc had the signs of cardiac arrest last week, and resisted going to the hospital out of fear. He’s out of danger now, but knows it could have been much worse.

Premier Francois Legault said the transition of medical teams out of long-term care facilities is happening gradually.

“We already have a lot less doctors in our CHSLDs,” he said.