A new clinic opening today at the St. Catharines Site will increase access to minor gynecology services that are minimally invasive and can be safely provided to female patients who do not require general anesthesia or a hospital admission.
“Our team of physicians and nurses at our Welland Site were instrumental in introducing this safe new model of care to enhance services for females in our region,” says Dr. Nicholas Braithwaite, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Niagara Health. “By performing these services in an ambulatory setting, we are able to schedule these procedures more quickly for our patients while providing improved quality of care. This new model of care will also free up capacity in our operating rooms for patients whose surgical procedures require that level of care.”
The Ambulatory Procedure Unit, Gynecology Clinic will operate once a week on Tuesdays. Patients will be referred by their family physician or other primary care provider to a gynecologist at Niagara Health.
The clinic is funded by the provincial Ministry of Health’s Surgical Innovation Fund, which was established in June 2021 to address surgical care that was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increase local capacity to provide surgeries and procedures.