July 28, 2010
Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation > News & Events > Media Room > July 28, 2010

Donation to SMH Foundation helps chronic pain patients find relief

Surrey, B.C. – A donor’s gift to Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation has allowed the hospital’s Pain Management Clinic to purchase a key tool to manage chronic neck and back pain.

The Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Woodward’s Foundation has donated $59,000 towards a RadioFrequency Lesioning machine – the first of its kind at Surrey Memorial Hospital (SMH). An estimated 100 to 300 patients a year will benefit from the equipment and receive treatment closer to home.

“This technology will make a huge difference in these patients’ quality of life,” says Foundation Chair Jacy Wingson. “The contribution from the Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Woodward’s Foundation puts a valuable tool in the hands of Surrey’s Pain Management team.”

RadioFrequency Lesioning is a procedure used in specific circumstances to disrupt pain signals through electrical impulses. Patients generally feel relief from pain for a number of months, after which the procedure can be repeated. The new machine is expected to be put to use beginning later in the summer. Follow this link for a feature story on this procedure.

"Over three hundred thousand people within Fraser Health suffer from chronic pain and 21% of ER visits are related to chronic pain," notes SMH Pain Management Clinic Director Dr. Brenda Lau. "The RadioFrequency Lesioning machine will improve access to much-needed minimally invasive interventional pain services."

The current eight-person team at the Pain Management Clinic includes a nurse practitioner, four anaesthesiologists, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist and a clerk.

Better health care for British Columbians is a priority of the Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Woodward’s Foundation, which was incorporated close to 60 years ago. Since its inception, the Foundation has made grants totalling millions of dollars.

Established in 1992, Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation has raised more than $50 million to purchase medical equipment, fund innovative programs, and support training and research.

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For more information or interviews, contact:

Jason Howe
Public Affairs Director
Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation
604-585-5666 ext 778284
cell: 604-613-6873
jason.howe{at}fraserhealth.ca
Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation. Making life better.