CT scanner welcomed with smiles, open arms

FORT FRANCES—After months and months of anticipation, the new CT scanner at La Verendrye Hospital arrived last Thursday afternoon, with hospital staff and those who helped raise funds for the equipment breathing a sigh of relief as they watched it get unloaded and wheeled through the halls.
Few could be more happy than Deane Cunningham, chair of the “Just Imagine” fundraising campaign, which saw district residents pledge more than $1.5 million to buy the CT scanner between October, 2006 and March, 2007.
“It’s been a long time coming, the CT scan, but we’re pleased it’s here,” said Cunningham, who also is vice-chair of the Riverside Foundation for Health Care.
“We had the money raised in, I think, record time, but things got caught up in the bureaucracy of the Ministry of Health and it took a long time for the approvals to go through,” he noted.
“We’ve got all that behind us, and the machine is here. I’m just pleased it has arrived,” Cunningham added. “We watched it come off the truck and wheel it in. It was a great feeling to see that happening.
“They’re shooting for Aug. 5 as a tentative date to start doing scans, and that will be a great day for health care in the district because it’s going to provide that extra level of health service that wasn’t here before, and certainly cut down on travel for people,” said Cunningham.
“It took a little longer than expected, but in the same breath, the way I kind of look at it is, if we hadn’t have done anything, we still wouldn’t have one, and wouldn’t have one for years to come,” Riverside Foundation for Health Care chair Larry Cousineau remarked.
“It took longer, but it’s here.”
Cousineau said there’s no doubt the CT scanner will be a boon to district patients.
“I’ve already had at least half-a-dozen people, since the picture was in the paper, tell me about how they’re looking forward to not having to go Thunder Bay or Winnipeg or wherever,” he noted.
“A lot of times when people travel to get these CT scans, they’re not feeling well,” added Cousineau. “If you’re feeling fine, you can go to Winnipeg, do a little shopping, and go home. But a lot of times you’re sick; something’s wrong with you.
“A lot of times people aren’t young when they go to get these, either, and they may not have young friends to drive them,” he continued. “It’s a definite inconvenience, along with the cost of it all.”
Cousineau said he’s been on the Foundation’s board of directors since day one and been the chairperson the last few years, and that the CT scan has been its greatest—and possibly most exciting—endeavour next to the Phase IV renovations at La Verendrye Hospital.
“We’re certainly glad it’s finally here,” echoed Wayne Woods, CEO of Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc.
“It’s been a long haul—a lot of preparation had to take place before we could actually take delivery of the machine—some of the stuff we didn’t know about.
“But we’re certainly happy it’s here, and we can’t wait until it’s operational and people can start to use it,” he enthused.
Being the first time Riverside has acquired this particular type of equipment, Woods noted they had to “jump through a bunch of hoops” to meet Ministry of Health and Long-term Care requirements—even though the province did not contribute any funds to the CT scanner.
While Riverside initially had hoped to have it up and running by the end of December, it did not receive formal approval from the ministry until last fall, Woods explained.
Riverside then put out a request for proposals for a 64-slice CT scanner, with the Toshiba model being ordered in late January.
Between then and now, work has been ongoing to prepare the room to house it, as well as an adjoining control/observation room from which staff will operate it.
This includes electrical and ventilation systems and lead shielding, as well as flooring, walls, and paint.
The arrival of the machine had been dependent on the rooms being ready.
Medical staff also have been eagerly awaiting the new technology.
“It’s going to be pretty interesting,” said X-ray technologist Mark Addison, referring to using the Toshiba Aquilion 64-slice CT scanner.
“This machine is going to be the best one in all of Northwestern Ontario, actually,” he added. “There isn’t a machine of the same calibre even in Thunder Bay at this point.”
CT (or computed tomography) is a medical imaging method in which digital geometry processing is used to generate a three-dimensional image of the inside of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around a single axis of rotation.
This will be used as a more precise X-ray to takes images of everything from complex fractures to tumours.
All of the staff in the diagnostic imaging department are, or will be, undergoing training—which Addison noted is “significant”—to use the new equipment, and ultimately all will be able to utilize the CT scanner.
The 5,000-pound unit arrived here in two major components, with movers carefully unloading and then maneuvering the expensive equipment through the emergency entrance and down the halls to the diagnostic imaging wing.
(Only a couple low hanging signs has to be temporarily taken down for it to clear the ceilings).
It then was wheeled to the scanning room for set-up and calibration, which is continuing right now, with the aim to be operational Aug. 5.
A grand opening for the new CT scanner will be held this fall, with Cunningham stressing credit has to be given to the people of Rainy River District who pledged the significant sum of money needed to make the CT scanner here a reality.
“Every single dime of this capital cost was raised by the people and organizations in the Rainy River District. It was all local money,” he noted. “And there were some groups and organizations who weren’t exactly in the Rainy River District but do business here, and they came forward.
“It was a district effort, and it’s great that it’s here now to serve the residents of the district,” he remarked.
“Once again, the people of the district came to the plate and helped us out because they could see the need, and hopefully they’re willing to support us in our future endeavors,” agreed Woods.
Woods noted the next major project on Riverside’s “to do” list is renovations at Rainycrest Long-term Care Facility, about which more information will be announced down the road.
(Fort Frances Times)