London is losing its only two children's heart doctors and how soon they can be replaced remains unknown.
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) announced yesterday that Dr. Dion Pepelassis and Dr. Ilan Buffo have both resigned and accepted positions at the Winnipeg Children's Hospital.
They are leaving Children's Hospital of Western Ontario at the end of June.
The hospital, in Victoria Hospital, treats about 1,800 children in pediatric cardiology at a time, said Dr. Paul Atkison, senior medical director for women and children.
The hospital services a population of about 450,000 children from Owen Sound to Windsor.
The hospital is recruiting replacements, Atkison said, but there's a shortage of the specialists in Canada.
LHSC has been trying to recruit a third pediatric cardiologist for three years without success, he said.
"People are always recruiting -- and sometimes that means poaching them from other hospitals."
Richard Manuel, a parent whose six-year-old daughter, Anna, is a regular patient in the pediatric cardiology department, said the hospital faces an uphill battle in its attempt to recruit two cardiologists.
"The reality is, London's a very small facility, and without a very good team of support for them here, it's a hard sell to get doctors to come to a place where there's no other specialists and they can't use their skills."
"Have fun," was the response of Scott Anderson, another parent whose daughter Heather died from a serious heart defect in 2001 when she was six.
"I don't think the odds are very good. They've had a very hard time recruiting before," Anderson said.
"These doctors are going out to a hospital where there's an actual cardiac program. What we have in London is more of a Band-Aid."
If the cardiologists are not replaced, children will have to travel to Toronto for treatment, Anderson said.
LHSC is looking at candidates worldwide, Atkison said.
"We are looking at 11 candidates and so far we've interviewed four," he said. "We are extremely optimistic that there will be no interruption in service."
The Ministry of Health is helping London replace the two doctors with four new ones, he added.
He suspects recruitment will be easier than it has been in the past because all the major players are pulling together to help out.
"The loss has galvanized the whole provincial pediatric network to pitch in and help out," he said.
Though Atkison said he's confident there will be no gap in service, LHSC has a contingency plan in case the doctors can't be replaced in time.
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