A little ray of hope for us

Hi everyone, Well there is a little bit of good news from someone at VCHA. I hope that this letter will give us a little something to smile about. Sim Erin from Dr. Amson's support forum received a positive and supportive letter from the Surgeon-in-Chief from the VCHA. Erin states " What I like is that he actually seems to have read my letter. Furthermore, he is clearly an advocate for WLS. While it's not much of a victory because he was already on side, it's nice to know that someone is paying attention and will continue to advocate for us". Here is the letter everyone, Sim Dear Ms. Madsen: Many thanks for submitting your excellent report about your positive experience with Roux en Y gastric bypass surgery. I am delighted that you have had a good result. I agree completely with your assessment of the situation and I am a strong advocate for introducing bariatric surgical programs. You should know that St. Paul's Hospital Bariatric Program closed in 2002 when the surgeon there retired. As the Surgeon-in-Chief for this health region, I have strongly supported the reintroduction of the program. Dr. Adam Meneghetti to whom you refer, at that time was a surgeon in training in our program. I encouraged him to gain experience with the modern laproscopic technique of bariatric surgery and he generously took a year out of his life to acquire this experience in San Francisco. Dr. Meneghetti was recruited back in 2005 and it was the aim of our surgical department to support him in this new role. I discussed the reintroduction of a Bariatric Program with our Surgery Council with all surgeons in the health region in early 2004 and I also discussed this plan with Dr. Amson. In 2005 working with the Provincial Health Services Authority I co-supervised a project to get the information about the need for bariatric surgery and it is, as you state, an essential program to deliver here in the province. Unfortunately, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the Provincial Health Services Authority have not been able to agree who should pay for such a program. I have had several meetings with senior administrative officials here without successfully convincing them to initiate the program and jointly a discussion was held with the Ministry of Health in early September to pursue such funding. I plan to continue to make arguments to initiate such a program since I believe it does make sound sense for reduced costs to our Healthcare system. Currently, administrative officials in the Vancouver Coastal Health region are working with administrative officials in the Vancouver Island Health Authority to assess cost structures. You have my assurance that I will keep the pressure on. Meanwhile, please keep your advocacy group going. Based upon your eloquent letter, I suggest that you address your similar advocacy to Ida Goodrow who is Chief Executive Officer for the Vancouver Coastal Health region and to Linda Cranston who is CEO of the Provincial Health Services Authority. You may even wish to write to the Ministry of Health stating your point. It does not hurt to have such well-worded statements of concern from persons like you. Obviously, sharing your personal information is your own choice. You have my full support. Sincerely, Garth L. Warnock, MD, FRCSC Erin states next that " I might want to write to the Ministry of Health?! Too funny. I think by now they probably see my return address and groan! Anyhow, I already wrote to Ida Goodrow; the above letter from Janet Davidson was in response to the letters I'd sent them both. (Notice that Dr. Warnock and Janet Davidson spell her name differently. I shall have to confirm which is correct.) But Linda Cranston is a new name. I'll write to her. I also have a plan now to build on the bit printed in The Vancouver Sun, as well as some follow-up with a reporter at The Province (who wrote Lisa Marie's front cover story) who expressed an interest in the issue of having to pay for the removal of redundant skin. Good thing I have some time off coming up- I'm feeling reinvigorated! " « Last Edit: Today at 09:52:03 PM by ballgrrrl » Logged -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erin sw: 371 cw: 158

Hi Sim Thank you so much for posting the letter. It does give a smile. I wrote to everyone on the board of directors at Vancouver Coastal Health. My MLA and MP and Mr Abbott. I have not gotten a reply from anyone yet. I will also post thier replies. And to everyone else, keep up the letters and emails. Merry Christmas and Happy New year to everyone. Sharon in Langley