Photo: Contributed

Kelowna General Hospital cardio tech supervisor, Heidi Walwyn, demonstrates applying a heart monitor on Interior Health cardiac manager Mack Cheyne.

Patients throughout the Interior Health region will benefit from newly upgraded heart monitors in hospitals.

The devices will help improve patient access to important diagnostic testing and enhance timely access for physicians and nurse practitioners to these reports.

A heart monitor, or Holter, is a diagnostic test that monitors cardiac rhythms by continuous electrocardiogram tracing over 24 hours or more. The new equipment means fewer cancellations due to equipment issues and different medical facilities can also share the workload to scan the exams if one site has an unexpected increased volume, decreasing the time to get results.

The project was made possible as a result of a generous estate gift from Bill and Catherina Humphrey, of Kamloops, and the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation.

“Without the support of the RIH Foundation and the donors, this project to this extent would not have been possible,” said Interior Health vice president of clinical operations, Dr. Shallen Letwin. “We’re proud to be able to provide first-class cardiac care to people living across the Interior region.”

All sites in IH will be provided with new equipment to replace older monitors and scanning software. Phased-out equipment that still works and can be used will be donated to other areas in need.

“As a physician, it’s convenient to be able to report Holter results from any computer,” said Dr. Shawn Pun of Kamloops. “This system has great potential to reduce current Holter reporting turnaround times, a huge benefit to both our patients and health-care providers.”

The implementation of the new monitors started in March and the rollout is expected to be completed in June. The Holter heart monitor service is offered at 31 sites across IH, including eight scanning sites and 24 remote sites.

Total number of devices purchased and distributed:

• 275 Holter monitors
• 25 remote licence keys
• 16 scanning licence keys