Dr. Pawan Kumar

Hi, I’m Dr. Pawan Kumar, Chief of Surgery and a general surgeon at North Bay Regional Health Centre. I feel privileged to work alongside a group of surgeons encompassing eight different surgical disciplines– orthopaedics, general surgery, gynecology, urology, anaesthesia, ophthalmology, ENT (ears, nose & throat), and dental.

I have had the privilege of being a member of the surgical team at NBRHC for eight years. My colleagues and I perform a variety of surgical procedures aimed to improve the quality of life of patients. Every day is different. One day I could be performing “minor procedures” in the Ambulatory Care Unit (with the use of local anaesthetic). The next day I could be performing emergency surgery on a 19-year-old patient coming through the Emergency Department with a ruptured appendix, or a scheduled surgery for a person with colon cancer. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to help all of my patients and my community.

Thanks to your generosity and our community, our hospital is a leader in surgical techniques. For more than 22 years, we’ve been performing basic and advanced laparoscopic procedures (including the first tele-robotic surgery in 2003). Laparoscopic surgery is a form of minimally invasive surgery (MIS).

MIS is a surgical technique that requires a small incision(s). By using specialized cameras and equipment, I can perform a surgery by viewing the structures inside the patient’s body on a monitor. Laparoscopy and arthroscopy (to view inside a patient’s joint, such as a knee or shoulder) are the two types of MIS performed at NBRHC. Thanks to MIS procedures, patients recover quicker than if they had open surgery, and can often return home the same day. MIS is best practice for many surgical procedures, specifically in orthopaedics, general surgery, gynecology and urology.

The Health Centre’s commitment to advanced surgical procedures is one of the reasons I came to practice in North Bay. The MIS equipment at NBRHC is more than 11 years old. It has been well used and loved, but it’s tired and outdated. It is time for an upgrade. The estimated cost to upgrade the equipment in the seven operating rooms is approximately $1 million.

Over the last 11 years, there have been major technological advances in the MIS systems, especially in terms of image quality. Why is an upgrade so important at NBRHC? Our current equipment provides pixelated imaging. Newer systems use ultra-high definition (4k) imaging. Cameras and monitors provide a field of view; they are our eyes inside our patients with high image quality, providing clearer, crisper, and more detailed images of the complex structures inside. A clear image and high definition picture are important to helping a surgery run smoothly.

MIS is best practice for many surgeries.

The upgraded equipment will provide a magnified, High Definition 3D view of the surgical site and will help the Laparoscope surgeon operate with precision, flexibility and control. If we can see better, we can perform with additional confidence, often resulting in a more efficient surgery. This means less anaesthetic for the patients and a shorter recovery period. In addition, the new equipment will allow additional integration as new upgrades and technological capabilities are developed to make surgical procedures even safer.

Our community generously donated more than $1 million towards this important project. The MIS systems at NBRHC are schedule for upgrade in 2023. Thank you for giving generously.

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