Recent History – 2003
August 18, 2003, by Jamie Dirom, Daily News Staff
Two small devices are going to help local bones heal better. Thanks to a donation from the Suncor Energy Foundation, the Dawson Creek and District Hospital Foundation has purchased two fixator systems.
The standard and small fixator systems are sets of clamps that set bone fractures and breaks, eliminating the long-term need for a cast. The devices will help doctors better deal with patients who break bones in their wrist or parts of the leg, said Dr. Tari Agananba.
“The advantage is that it makes it easier for me to treat people who have a compound fracture of their tibia or a compound fracture of their wrist,” said Agananba.
The devices connect externally to pins in the bones and they can manipulated during the healing process to ensure that the bones mend properly.
The ability to adjust a break helps – often broken bones come in “all bent and handled,” said Agananba.
The new devices will radically change the way local doctors deal with breaks that aren’t healing like they want them to heal. “(Currently I) have to take a person back to the operating room and put them back to sleep to fix the fracture again. With this, I don’t need to,” said Agananba.
The fixators will help people get out of the hospital sooner after surgery, and it will also help them rehabilitate faster – without a cast, they won’t be losing as much range of motion. The Suncor Energy Foundation donated $5,000 to help with the purchase of the devices. The hospital foundation’s request was one of 1,000 received by the oil company’s charitable foundation.
The Suncor Energy Foundation is a private charitable foundation fully funded by Suncor Energy Inc. It was established to manage the company’s community investments to Canadian charities. The foundation supports communities in which the oil company has a presence.