Brockville General Hospital has a new surgeon, bringing the facility closer to its goal of providing seven-day, 24-hour coverage.
Dr. Karim Somani, of Edmonton, Alberta, has joined the team of physicians providing patient care at BGH.
“This is a major step forward to provide seamless coverage to the community,” said BGH president and CEO Ray Marshall.
“This is a great thing. General surgery is one of the areas where we have been recruiting for quite a w h i l e ,” said Mar-shall.
The addition of Somani brings the number of general surgeons up to four, and the equivalent of three full-time surgeons. Two presently share one position, Marshall said.
The goal is to hire another surgeon to have four full-time equivalents. This number will allow the hospital to have 24-hour, seven-day coverage.
“Now we would be able to do 75 per cent of the time or maybe better,” Marshall said.
One of Somani’s area’s of interest is the growing use of laparoscopic surgery, abdominal surgeries done through a small incision with a laparoscope using a telescopic video camera. This type of surgery is preferred over the traditional larger incision.
“It has long been the standard in gall bladder surgery and is growing in use with spleens, hernias and colons, including cancer resections.
“It’s minimally invasive so it means less pain and faster recovery for the patient. In time, it may become the standard of care and that’s exciting.”
Somani said he is looking forward to living in Brockville.
Ismailimail 
congratulations Doctor Somani.
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