Doctor pleads for help expanding Langley’s cardiac care unit

No one should die because Langley Memorial Hospital (LMH) was lacking the monitoring equipment necessary to detect a potential cardiac event.

For that reason, Dr. Daniel Negash is one of the strongest advocates for more cardiac care/telemetry equipment at the local hospital, and as soon as possible.

Dr. Negash is an internal medicine specialist at LMH, where he focuses on cardiology and critical care. He also serves as the Fraser Health Authority’s regional medical director of access and flow for community hospitals.

Since joining LMH in 2017, he has seen the numbers of cardiac cases climb along with Langley’s population.

And all that time, he and his colleagues have been enthusiastic advocates, calling for more specialized cardiac beds, staffing needed to monitor the cases, and the additional supportive equipment needed for an expanded unit.

As best Negash can glean from long-time employees, the hospital has been operating with six cardiac care beds in the ICU since the late 1990s. He pointed to demographic numbers showing Langley’s population in 2001 was 86,000. According to Census, that number had grown to 132,000 as of 2021, and the current estimates indicate there are 170,000 people living in this community today.

“We had six beds then. We have six now,” Negash said, explaining the urgent need to expand to a new 10-bed cardiac unit immediately.

Moving here from Chilliwack almost six years ago, he was baffled why that hospital had eight cardiac beds, with a smaller population than Langley.

He is making it his mission to help rectify the situation. That’s in part why he made a passionate plea to a sold-out crowd of 320 in attendance at the recent Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Hot Havana Nights gala.

The goal of this year’s fundraiser was to generate a few hundred thousand dollars towards the purchase of the specialty beds and accompanying equipment, explained the foundation’s executive director Heather Scott. Objective achieved!

This latest fundraising campaign began early this year, with a target of raising $645,000 for the 10 beds – at a cost of roughly $64,000 each. Plus, said Scott, another $100,000 would allow the hospital to purchase other necessary equipment including crash carts and defibrillators.

The gala moved the foundation towards that goal, raising about $315,000, Scott noted. She hopes the rest can be raised by Christmas, if not before, as word spreads about the need for the expanded cardiac care unit.

During an average week on rotation in the emergency ward, Negash said it’s not uncommon to see upwards of 15 or so people waiting for a cardiac bed in the ICU. That’s over and above the six already hooked up to monitors.

“You can see how concerning it is not to be able to look after those people appropriately,” said Negash, who grew up and studied medicine in Northern Ethiopia, and completed his residency at UBC, where he is now a clinical assistant professor.

“This is to give you [an understanding of how] challenging it is to look after all of our patients when they come with a diagnosis that they need cardiac monitoring,” he said, trying to turn a spotlight on the issue while pleading for people to give.

“Nobody should die because we don’t have one monitor. Nobody, not one patient, should suffer significant complications because we couldn’t accommodate with a cardiac monitor. We have to act right now,” said the doctor.

“We’re almost there,” he added. “In fact… I can speak with a full heart and confidence for myself and my colleagues today, and all medical staff in Langley, when I say that our donors keep our engine running – thanks to their generosity.”

“Thanks to all of you here tonight, this crisis will end soon,” Negash told the attentive crowd.

“The changes that you’re bringing to our hospital is one of the best changes we can imagine.”

This article was originally published by the Langley Advance Times