An ultrasound of a heart

By Sam Bennison

To Your Health

New cardiac care program in Prince George

Nov 26, 2024 | 5:52 PM

PRINCE GEORGE— An estimated one in every one hundred Canadians are born with congenital heart disease. However, with a wide variety of issues that can occur, treatment is a complex task.

“You can have very simple congenital heart disease where somebody might be born with a single hole in their heart, or a valve that’s not functioning normally,” explains Dr. Jasmine Grewal, the director of the Virani Provincial Adult Congenital Heart Program. “To very complex heart disease, where maybe they were born with one heart pump instead of two heart pumps.”

As those kids grow up into adults. They have to be consistently monitored to ensure no complications arise.

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“There’s some people who maybe have moderate complexity but the valves haven’t really changed in years and everything else looks stable. They’re seen once a year, maybe once every two years or three years,” says Dr. Grewal. “And there’s some people who are having more complications that are having to be seen more frequently.”

In the past, monitoring had to take place in Vancouver, meaning those with heart conditions in Northern B.C. would need to take regular trips to the Lower Mainland. Thanks to a new partnership between Northern Health and the Virani Provincial Adult Congenital Heart program, some of those patients can get treatment in Prince George.

Dr. Grewal says that the partnership has allowed her Northern patients easier access to care. She notes that her young adult patients struggle making it down to the Lower Mainland whether it’s due to work commitments or financial difficulties.

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Email: sam.bennison@pattisonmedia.com