Erie Shores Healthcare restores urology services after seven-year hiatus

Despite living in Harrow, a half-hour drive from Erie Shores Healthcare in Leamington, Larry Pollard has had to make about 75 trips to London over the past nine years for treatment of a rare form of prostate cancer.

"My doctor said you have one of the rarest cancers there is. My doctor said less than five per cent of people have your cancer," he said.

Erie Shores Healthcare stopped offering urology services in 2017 due to operational challenges. As of this week however, that’s changed.

On Monday, the hospital announced it had reinstated urology services "through a strategic partnership with local urologists."

"Urology procedures will be conducted twice weekly in ESHC's operating rooms, enhancing access to specialized care for residents of Essex County," reads a statement from the hospital.

The return of the service was made possible through seven years of fundraising and a $200,000 commitment from the County of Essex.

According to the hospital, a $250,000 donation from Pollard and his wife Marcia provided the final push to bring the service back.

"It's likely the most important donation or thing I've ever done in my life," said Pollard, adding his most recent prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test showed excellent results.

"My PSA kept going up. But after one month on the drug Abiraterone, it started going down. When I had my PSA taken last about three weeks ago, it was zero. So, everything's good."

Hospital CEO Kristin Kennedy said the resumption of urology services will reduce the need for lengthy travel and improve patient well-being.

"We know patients have experiences where they are traveling up and down the 401 for service. This will help minimize that. It will help with wait times across Windsor and Essex County," Kennedy said. "Many of us that work here live in the communities, and we know that having access and care close to home is really at the forefront of everything we do here."

Dr. Karim Marzouk, chief of urology at Windsor Regional Hospital and Erie Shores Healthcare, said a very substantial population from Leamington and the county has been forced to drive to Windsor for care, especially older patients or those with mobility challenges.

"It’s very difficult for them with multiple trips for pre-op assessment, operation, and follow-up care. So, this will be a very big deal for these patients," Marzouk said.

He said the need for urology services is greater now than ever.

"We’ve seen this wave of new cancer diagnoses after COVID, especially in the post-COVID era, where a lot of patients hadn’t seen a doctor for many years and were never screened or delayed medical care," said Marzouk.

"Certainly, it is increasing. So, there is always kind of a high demand to get in and see a urologist for those cases."

Marzouk added that one of the key symptoms people should watch for is blood in the urine.

"That would be one of the telltale symptoms, mostly for bladder cancer," he said.