CSTAR announces expansion to China

CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics) has announced an international expansion of its programs in collaboration with West China Hospital (WCH), one of the world's largest acute care facilities.

A memorandum of understanding between CSTAR and WCH was described at the semi-annual CSTAR Industry Roundtable that took place at the London Convention Centre June 18. Part of this agreement is for CSTAR to provide education and expert support to help WCH become accredited by the American College of Surgeons.

"My colleagues at West China Hospital are committed to the international standards of patient care quality and safety. CSTAR's simulation training expertise will provide West China Hospital with the means to attain this standard," says Dr. John Denstedt, Chair, Department of Surgery.

CSTAR also announced a collaboration with Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to establish a CSTAR office at West China Hospital. The purpose of this office is to facilitate medical device research, validation and training.

"London is uniquely positioned to market highly specialized services such as device validation because it can provide access to high quality patient care, advanced medical academics and research that is done collaboratively between hospitals and the university. I see CSTAR's role as not only providing the means to validate medical devices, but to bring together and strengthen partnerships between organizations who share a common interest in advancing safe patient care," explains John Parker, Director of CSTAR.

The CSTAR partnership follows on the heels of a memorandum of agreement signed between Western and the West China School of Medicine in November 2009 for education and research exchange. The international initiatve is being led by the Department of Surgery.

CSTAR is a collaborative research and education program of London Health Sciences Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario and St. Joseph's Health Care, London.

Situated in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, WCH has over 4,300 beds. In 2009, it performed more than 69 000 in patient-surgeries and treated more 2.73 million outpatients.