Suzara Family Faces Crisis After Vancouver Pediatric Heart Surgery Cancelled. 👼

For the Suzara family, what should have been a joyful time welcoming their baby turned into a harrowing ordeal. Cody Levien and Alyssa Suzara, from Coquitlam, B.C., were preparing for the birth of their son, Logan, diagnosed in utero with a rare heart defect. Their joy quickly turned to fear when they were informed there would be no pediatric heart surgeon available in Vancouver, less than a month before their scheduled C-section on July 16.

Logan’s heart condition required surgery within the first week of life, leaving the family with no choice but to travel across the country. They flew to Toronto, arriving when Alyssa was just 35 weeks pregnant, and spent seven weeks away from home. During this time, they stayed at SickKids Hospital, relying on the expertise of staff far from their support system in B.C.

“It was shocking and isolating,” Cody said. “We were completely away from family, unsure of what the next day would bring. It was stressful and emotionally exhausting.” The sudden relocation and medical uncertainty weighed heavily on the couple, who had to balance pregnancy, travel logistics, and concern for their unborn child.

The staffing gap at B.C. Children’s Hospital stems from a scheduled leave taken by Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi, the chief of pediatric cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. A workplace dispute involving another surgeon, Dr. Andrew Campbell, who was terminated but later reinstated on appeal, also contributed to the hospital’s shortage of available pediatric heart surgeons. The hospital has acknowledged the challenges but did not confirm whether the internal conflict directly caused the cancellations.

Meanwhile, seven other families have already returned home after having children treated out of province, while six more await surgery. Some parents, like Laesa Kim, face lingering uncertainty. Her daughter, Evelyn, five, had her heart surgery canceled due to Gandhi’s leave, just weeks before the procedure. “It shattered all the preparation, all the anxiety leading up to the surgery,” Kim said. “And now there’s this looming uncertainty about when it will happen and who will do it.”

For Heather and Steve Lazeski, the disruption had even more immediate consequences. Their six-month-old son, James, was sent to Edmonton after no surgical team was available in Vancouver. During the transport, he suffered two cardiac arrests, leaving his kidneys and liver damaged and delaying his eligibility for a heart transplant. “It was like living through the worst nightmare imaginable,” Heather recalled. “It was traumatic, but the transfer was necessary to give him a chance to survive.”

Once in Edmonton, James was placed on a heart-lung support machine and will remain hospitalized until he is strong enough for a transplant, potentially for up to a year. The Lazeskis, like many other families, now face long-term uncertainty while their child’s life hangs in the balance.

The Suzara, Lazeski, and Kim families’ experiences illustrate the human impact behind staffing gaps and administrative decisions. Families are uprooted, travel thousands of kilometers, and bear the stress and financial burden of long hospital stays, all while worrying for their children’s lives. Even minor delays can create life-threatening consequences for infants and young children with complex heart defects.

B.C. Children’s Hospital has pledged to bring in external surgeons to fill gaps temporarily and provide financial assistance for travel and accommodation. However, parents say these measures fall short of addressing the real challenges families face when forced to leave home for critical care. Cody and Alyssa describe the $100 weekly support offered for food and living expenses as insufficient for the costs of weeks-long hospital stays in Toronto.

“This experience shows how fragile pediatric care systems can be,” Cody said. “Every family has a child whose life depends on timely access to specialized surgery. Delays or cancellations can have devastating consequences.” Families continue to advocate for timely care, better communication, and consistent access to pediatric heart surgery in B.C. while dealing with the emotional toll of uncertainty and separation from their support networks.

The Suzara family’s story is a stark reminder of how critical infrastructure, staffing, and planning are for vulnerable children. Each day without proper care carries serious risk, and for families like these, every hospital visit, ambulance ride, and medical procedure is a test of resilience. Even amid the stress and disruption, they remain committed to giving their children the care they need and raising awareness of the human cost when vital services are interrupted.