Page 10 - UHF_HERE_2024_Flipbook

them to leave the hospital early or avoid being admitted to the hospital altogether if they’re referred to us early enough in their care.”
The EZVHH has been providing safe, high-quality care to patients in the Edmonton area since 2018, and the program has gradually expanded to include more patient populations - including surgical, women’s health and cardiology. The University Hospital Foundation has supported the program by providing funding for some equipment.
Inge Westlin, 77, knows the benefit of EZVHH well. She first learned of it while waiting for a cardiac ablation procedure at the University of Alberta Hospital’s Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, and became a EZVHH cardiology patient last July. Westlin required regular monitoring until her procedure and would have been admitted to the hospital if the program wasn’t there to support her.
“I knew that Inge could safely be at home while she waited for her procedure if she was monitored by a care team, so I referred her to the EZVHH,” says Dr. Nawaf Almajed, an associate clinical professor and cardiologist with AHS, and the cardiology medical lead for the EZVHH.
Westlin was discharged from the hospital and admitted into the care of the EZVHH cardiology unit. She went home with a digital patient monitoring kit that allowed her care team, including Almajed, to remotely monitor vitals such as her blood pressure and heart rate. She was able to safely return to many of her usual daily activities while she waited for her ablation.
“The program felt like a cradle of love,” says Westlin.
“It felt like I had a lifeline during a very stressful time. If I had questions or concerns, I knew the team was a phone call away.”
Marco says the EZVHH benefits patients in other ways. “Imagine having post-partum complications and not
Dr. Lawrence Richer
Associate Dean of Health Research, College of Health Sciences Pediatric Neurologist,
Stollery Children’s Hospital, Alberta Health Services
“I think that in the future
we’re going to have a far more mature adoption of digital technology in the health-care system. I can consider maybe 10 different variables at any
one time as a diagnostician, but with digital support and artificial intelligence, I can now consider a person’s entire
life history, biomarkers, measurements from other labs, magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) and many other things that can go
into how I understand their symptoms and concerns. We’re just seeing the beginning of how we can leverage these tools to help patients make
treatment choices that consider a much wider breadth of options.
When it comes to some of these technologies that have potential,
it takes investment to see them adopted. Early adoption of new technologies isn’t always part of the core funding from the provincial government, but as a top-tier hospital, that’s what we want at
the University of Alberta Hospital. Through the University Hospital Foundation, philanthropy
and donors help these new technologies come to light.”
Dr. Richer researches autonomic neurological disorders in children. He is also interested in the role of artificial intelligence in health care.
10 HERE.2024
photography AMANDA GALLANT