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APN Gillian Reid McDonald (left), Neurologist Dr. Rajendra Kale and Josée Carpentier, EEG Technician, celebrated the new Epilepsy Monitoring Unit that opened in May.

The new Epilepsy Monitoring Unit – the first of its kind for adults in the Ottawa region – officially welcomed its first patient just days after opening in May.

The two-bed unit, located at the Civic Campus in the Neurosciences Acute Care Unit, will allow people with drug-resistant epilepsy to be monitored 24 hours a day for up to five days by continuous video EEG (electroencephalogram).

“This unit allows us to see what’s happening with their seizures and hopefully enhance patients’ quality of life,” said Gillian Reid McDonald, Advanced Practice Nurse in the EMU. With the EEG results, the health-care team can fine-tune the diagnosis and develop an appropriate treatment plan.

“We won’t have to send those patients off to Toronto or Montreal as often,” said Dr. Rajendra Kale, Neurologist. “It’s a first for The Ottawa Hospital and a major step towards building a full epilepsy program.”

Lori Timmins, an Epilepsy Ottawa board member, said the EMU offers new hope and a better quality of life for many.

“We can hopefully obtain more accurate and faster diagnostics, as well as treatment plans that are manageable for the patient and their caretakers,” Timmins said.

The Champlain LHIN has funded the EMU with $750,000 per year.

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