A number of clinics and centres are associated with the Surgery Program.
BMO Breast Diagnostic Clinic (BDC)
The BMO Breast Diagnostic Clinic offers all the services needed for patients with suspicious breast lesions, or breast anomalies.
The state-of-the-art BMO Breast Diagnostic Clinic offers all the services needed for patients with suspicious breast lesions, or breast anomalies.
In a unique approach, we can test patients, provide results, and draw on the resources of an interdisciplinary health care team of expert surgeons, radiologists, nurses, social workers and pathologists. Our quick diagnosis helps to alleviate anxiety in patients. Once a breast tumour is identified, the wait for surgical treatment is usually less than three weeks.
The clinic can assist patients with the deeply personal and psychological effects of his or her situation through the emotional support given by the nurses, physicians and volunteers.
This regional cataract centre is ensuring patients get the surgery they need earlier so they can enjoy improved vision and an enhanced quality of life.
The Cataract High Volume Centre at the NYGH Minor Surgical Procedures and Elder Care Centre is one of the largest regional centres for cataract surgery in Ontario.
Through an innovative partnership between North York General Hospital, Markham Stouffville Hospital and Humber River Hospital, the centre is designed to reduce wait times and improve outcomes for patients. This collaboration has standardized procedures and processes, such as the types of surgical equipment and medication used to improve safety and wait times.
The Cataract High Volume Centre provides safe, high quality care. Our wait times are among the best in the province and patients rate their overall care consistently above 90%.
Skilled surgeons
The decision to operate is made with the patient based on their degree of vision impairment and the impact this is having on their quality of life. Patients referred to one of our highly skilled ophthalmologists receive the earliest available date for cataract surgery at the centre. Two operating rooms are shared by ophthalmologists providing comprehensive and subspecialty surgical care, including cornea (i.e. transplants, pterygia excision), occuloplastics (eye socket, i.e. tear ducts, eyelids etc.) and glaucoma procedures.
Specialized nurses
With the direction of the staff anaesthetist and in compliance with the clinical guidelines, specially trained nurses monitor our patients during their cataract surgery. In addition, our staff of dedicated operating room nurses have specialized training in handling ocular microsurgical instruments and assisting during delicate intraocular procedures. The nurses complete an annual recertification to maintain their competencies.
Referrals
Referrals for a comprehensive eye assessment must be made to one of our ophthalmologists’ offices by a physician or optometrist.
Endoscopy Clinic
The Endoscopy Clinic provides endoscopy services and conducts, on average, 11,000 gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures every year.
North York General Hospital offers endoscopy services through all stages of life, from young children to the elderly. Endoscopy is a way of looking inside the body using a flexible tube that has a small camera on the end of it. This instrument is called an endoscope. Common procedures include gastroscopy, colonoscopy and ERCP to diagnose and treat disorders of the gastrointestinal tract.
Our endoscopists complete about 11,000 procedures at our hospital each year. The department is also staffed by ansthesiologists and specialized endoscopy registered nurses. Together, the endoscopy team ensures your visit with us is as pleasant as possible.
Our Endoscopy Clinic is part of the Cancer Care Ontario Colorectal Screening Program. According to ColonCancerCheck, an Ontario-wide screening program aimed at reducing deaths from colorectal cancer by increasing early detection of the disease, there is a 90% cure rate if colorectal cancer is detected in its earliest stages.
If you have a family history of colon cancer in a first degree relative (parent, sibling or child) or have symptoms, the program recommends you have a colonoscopy to screen for this disease.
FIT + colonoscopy referrals
Fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) is a new test that is part of Cancer Care Ontario’s Colon Cancer Check Program
The FIT replaces the fecal occult blood test (gFOBT) for people at average risk of getting colorectal cancer
A positive FIT requires a colonoscopy
Patients who require a FIT positive colonoscopy will receive an appointment within two weeks
Results to primary care providers are sent within 1 business day
If further testing is necessary, patients will receive expedited and automatic diagnostic workup and surgical consults through the North York General Colorectal Cancer Program
The first prostate centre in the province to offer timely diagnosis, information, expertise and resources in a community hospital setting.
North York General Hospital has recognized expertise in prostate cancer. We offer a complete range of cancer care services to patients from screening and diagnosis to treatment and follow-up care. The hospital performs, on average, 4,500 urologic cystoscopies every year.
The Gale and Graham Wright Prostate Centre, located at the NYGH Minor Surgical Procedures and Elder Care Centre (243 Consumers Road, Suite 300), first opened in 2007 and was the first prostate centre in the province to offer timely diagnosis, information, expertise and resources in a community hospital setting.
The treatment of prostate cancer requires close cooperation between urologic surgeons and radiation oncologists. At the Gale and Graham Wright Prostate Centre, patients receive a consultation with both surgeons and radiation oncologists to make sure they are well informed about options for prostate cancer treatment. The focus is on collaborative care and optimal outcomes.
Visit our Cancer Care Program to learn more about the Gale and Graham Wright Prostate Centre.
Gulshan & Pyarali G. Nanji Orthopaedic and Plastics Centre (OPC)
Our busy Orthopaedic and Plastics Centre provides follow-up care to our patients who have recently visited the Charlotte & Lewis Steinberg Emergency or who have had surgery.
With more than 26,000 patient visits annually, the Gulshan & Pyarali G. Nanji Orthopaedic and Plastics Centre is our hospital’s second busiest area, after the Charlotte & Lewis Steinberg Emergency.
The centre at the General site (4001 Leslie St.) provides follow-up care to our patients who have recently visited the Emergency Department or who have had surgery.
The centre features:
six separate treatment rooms
separate plastics assessment and casting areas
dedicated waiting area
Common services
Common services provided by the orthopaedic component of the centre include:
assessing and treating broken bones and fractures
putting on and removing casts and splints
removing stitches and providing follow-up care for fractures and joint replacements (hip and knee).
The plastics component of the centre involves follow-up care after reconstructive or plastic surgery on bone, skin, arteries, nerves and muscles.
We provide assessment, treatment and follow-up for a variety of injuries. These include burns, wounds related to an injury, accident, ulcers on the body, and hand injuries.
Physicians, nurses, occupational therapists and orthopaedic technologists work as part a collaborative and interdisciplinary team to provide the best possible care to our patients.
Pre-op Assessment Clinic (Pre-Admit)
Most inpatients and some day surgery patients are referred to our Pre-operative (Pre-op) Assessment Clinic where they complete paperwork, blood tests, anesthesia and internal medicine consults.
Most inpatients and some day surgery patients are referred to our Pre-operative (Pre-op) Assessment Clinic at the General site. The clinic visit is scheduled a week or so before surgery and allows patients to complete paperwork, blood tests, anesthesia and internal medicine consults.
As a result, patients are able to sleep in the comfort of their home the night before their surgery, rather than having to be admitted to hospital the day before for tests.
Patients coming in for surgery register and prepare themselves in our surgical day care area. All the surgical units are committed to offering patients and their families the highest quality and safest care. We want your experience at North York General to be outstanding.
Surgical Clinic
The Surgical Clinic provides assessment and follow-up care to patients with conditions more optimally seen in a hospital clinic rather than a private office.
NYGH Minor Surgical Procedures and Elder Care Centre (243 Consumers Road).
The surgeons and staff in the Surgical Clinic provide assessment and follow-up care to patients with conditions more optimally seen in a hospital clinic rather than a private office. This includes patients recently discharged from hospital, patients who have recent incisions, or who have wounds requiring special care.
The clinic also has procedure rooms for minor procedures
Total Joint Assessment Centre (TJAC)
TJAC is reducing the time patients wait for hip and knee replacement and provides them with an early consultation for assessment and diagnosis.