Surgical Services

Four General Surgeons provide coverage for 24-hour emergency care at HHCC.

Surgical subspecialties at HHCC include:

• Dental
• Endoscopy
• ENT
• General Surgery
• Gynecology
• Obstetrics
• Opthalmology
• Orthopedics
• Plastics
• Urology

Pre-op Clinic

The Preoperative Clinic is located in the Ambulatory Care Unit on the main level at HHCC. The clinic is designed to assess and educate patients who are scheduled for surgery. In addition, patients have an opportunity to ask questions, discuss their needs both before and after surgery and how they can best plan for their return home. 

Based on your medical history and planned surgery, your surgeon will determine your need to visit the Preoperative Clinic. 

Anesthetic Assessment Clinic

The Anesthetist helps you to prepare you for surgery, understand your anesthetic options including post-operative pain management. 

Your assessment will include:

• review of your medical history
• physical assessment if required 
• discussion of an appropriate anesthetic based on your condition and surgical procedure

Admission

On the day of your scheduled surgery, please proceed inside the entrance for Ambulatory Care on the east side of the hospital. In order to prevent any delays, please ensure that your Ontario Health Card is readily available.

After checking in, you will be directed to the Surgery Waiting Room located on the main level.

At admission, you will meet with a nurse who will ensure that you're prepared both physically and emotionally for your procedure. Our primary goal is to ensure that you feel comfortable about your surgical experience, therefore, please do not hesitate to ask any questions that you may have.

You will also be asked to provide information on:

• your medical history
• current medications, supplements and herbal remedies including dosage and frequency
• allergies
• special needs i.e. hearing aids

For your safety, all Day Surgery patients are not permitted to drive home and MUST have someone available to stay with them overnight after receiving and anesthetic. 

Day Surgery patients must ensure the person driving them home remains in the hospital during their procedure.

Operating Room

We are committed to patient safety and high-quality care which is enhanced through the attention to surgical site infection monitoring and reporting; the completion of the Surgical Safety Checklist for every patient during their surgery or procedure; and maintaining Canadian Standards Association (CSA Standards) for medical device reprocessing.

Recovery

Following your surgery, you will recover in an area call the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) or Recovery Room. Registered Nurses with specialized training in post-anesthesia care will ensure that you recover safely and provide you with comfort and support.

The time you spend in PACU will vary depending on your needs and your nurse will continuously monitor your condition until you are ready to be transferred to an inpatient bed or to the Day Surgery Unit. 

Day Surgery

Some elective surgeries and procedures require a short recovery period; therefore, you will be discharged from the Day Surgery Unit. Your family will be invited to sit with you while you receive your post-operative instructions provided by your health care team. You will be informed on how to follow up with your surgeon and you may be given prescriptions for medications and special instructions as required.

Endoscopy

Elective endoscopic procedures (gastroscopies and colonoscopies) are scheduled within the Surgical Department in the special procedures room Monday to Friday from 8:00AM - 4:00PM. We also perform emergency endoscopic procedures after hours.

You asked – we answered

Here are the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions we receive about our Surgical Services from patients, families and caregivers in our community.