Families forced to go out of province for kids' heart surgery amid gap in care at B.C. Children's Hospital

More than a dozen families of children in need of heart surgery have been forced to travel long distances to get vital care, after B.C. Children's Hospital informed them there was no pediatric heart surgeon available.

Thirteen children have been sent out of province for surgery since July 1, the hospital in Vancouver says, and seven have since returned. Some parents have travelled as far as Toronto to get the medical care their children need. 

Cody Levien and Alyssa Suzara were told less than a month before their scheduled C-section date on July 16 that there was no longer a team available to perform urgent heart surgery after their son's birth. Logan was diagnosed in utero with a rare heart defect that required surgery within a week of birth. 

So the couple, who live in Coquitlam, B.C., flew to Toronto when Suzara was 35 weeks pregnant and spent seven weeks there, from June 20 to Aug. 5, including a two-week stay at Toronto's SickKids Hospital. 

"We were taken by surprise and disappointed. We felt so isolated, as far as family being able to be there in person," says Levien. 

The gap in care at B.C. Children's Hospital appears to be due in part to a leave of absence taken by its chief of pediatric cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi. Court documents have revealed there was a dispute between Gandhi and another cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital who was fired but reinstated on appeal.

The hospital has confirmed Gandhi is on a "scheduled leave" but has not said whether the internal conflict is the cause of the cancelled surgeries. 

In a statement, the hospital said it is aware there is a gap in care and has apologized to patients and families. The hospital said it will continue to bring in heart surgeons from outside B.C. to temporarily help with procedures.

It added that it is also "providing financial support for travel, accommodation, and food, on an as-needed basis to support those families" who had been affected.

But Suzara says she was "shocked" when they were offered support of $100 a week to help cover their costs in Toronto.

"I [was] 35 weeks pregnant. I can easily eat $100 in food — and that was for two of us."

The family said they were originally offered $50 a week. 

Suzara says having to jump on a flight to Toronto on such short notice was very stressful. 

"We're a new, smaller family. I can't imagine the financial costs and everything for bigger families who are uprooted for several weeks, or longer." 

6-month-old suffered cardiac arrests during transfer

When Heather and Steve Lazeski's six-month-old's heart problems took a turn for the worse in early August, the Kelowna, B.C., couple was told there was no team available at B.C. Children's Hospital to help their son. 

"They chose to send him to Edmonton by medical transport," says Steve Lazeski. 

During the transport, baby James suffered two cardiac arrests. 

"The only way I can describe it is, it's like living your worst nightmare. It was traumatic … the transfer was too much for his little heart," Heather Lazeski said. 

The cardiac arrests damaged James's kidneys and liver, making him ineligible for a heart transplant until those organs have recovered.

"Without that transfer, he wouldn't be in the condition he is today," said Heather Lazeski.  

In Edmonton, James was put on a machine to help pump oxygen into his heart and lungs. The Lazeskis say they plan to stay in Edmonton until James is strong enough to receive a heart transplant, which could take up to a year. 

When asked about the Lazeskis' case, B.C. Children's Hospital said, "we cannot speak to individual cases," but it said it was working to improve elements of its heart transplant program. 

'Looming uncertainty' 

Laesa Kim, from Surrey, B.C., says she received a phone call on May 31 telling her that the heart surgery scheduled for her five-year-old daughter Evelyn would be cancelled because Gandhi would be on leave. The call came five weeks before Evelyn's scheduled surgery.

"I felt shocked ... and devastated. Cancelled meant all the preparation and all the anxiety leading up to that surgery [was] shattered," Kim said. 

"And now there is all this looming uncertainty as far as when it will happen. Who will be doing the surgery? Where are we going to be for the surgery?"

Evelyn has tricuspid atresia, a congenital heart defect that obstructs blood flow through the heart, and will require multiple surgeries throughout her life. The family has spent years in and out of hospital.

"I have been by her bedside in that hospital for hundreds of days in the last five years," says Kim.  

The Kims were told they would know more about Gandhi's return to work by August, but said they have not yet heard from the hospital. 

Doctors' dispute 

A court of appeal document from April 2021 reveals there was a workplace dispute between Gandhi and Dr. Andrew Campbell and that the hospital eventually terminated Campbell's contract. According to the document, Gandhi was not consulted about Campbell's termination.

Campbell appealed the decision. In a Hospital Appeal Board ruling, Supreme Court Justice Nigel Kent said the hospital was aware of the dispute between the two doctors and "chose to do nothing about them." The Provincial Health Services Authority was ordered to reinstate Campbell.

Campbell has yet to resume work at B.C. Children's Hospital. The hospital has not confirmed why.

"We remain committed to providing children and their families with the highest quality patient care, but we acknowledge that in recent weeks, we have been faced with challenges in delivering on this and we apologize for the stress this may have caused the patients and families who need us most," the hospital said in a statement.