Your 50/50 Impact: New CT Scanner Will Replace “Workhorse” for Patients Across Northwestern Ontario
Published Friday, March 22, 2024
Thanks to Thunder Bay 50/50 supporters and Foundation donors, this 13 year old CT Scanner is being replaced at the Health Sciences Centre. The new unit will feature technology advancements which include enhanced images using lower doses of radiation, making scans faster and safer for patients. Last year, over 35,000 CT scans were done at the Hospital.
by Graham Strong
CT scanners, like all medical devices, can't keep running forever. High-precision, high-workload components wear out over time and technology keeps getting better. The Siemens CT scanner our Hospital installed in 2011 is quickly becoming worn down and obsolete.
But thanks to your support of the Thunder Bay 50/50 draw, a new CT scanner will soon be on its way.
“There are advancements in technology every year,” Craig Willson said. Most of that is in the area of software, which can enhance images using lower and lower doses of radiation. This makes scans faster and safer for patients. “The ultimate goal is to get the lowest dose of X-rays with the best image possible.”
Breakdowns are becoming more common with this older unit, which lead to delays in patient care. The CT scanner runs 24 hours, five days per week and 16 hours per day on the weekends. That makes it difficult to catch up again after a delay.
“The CT goes down on average once per month now. Obviously, the faster we can replace it, the better,” Willson said. The hope is to have a new one selected and installed by summer.
CT wait times have become an issue across Canada. Emergency and urgent CT scan wait times remain low at our Hospital. But wait times for non-urgent scans have become even more of an issue across Canada since COVID. Our wait times remain on the lower end compared to other hospitals in the province, but they are not where our Hospital wants them to be.
The best way to help Hospital staff reduce those wait times is to ensure the CT scanner is up and running as much as possible. Replacing it now will greatly reduce delays caused by breakdowns.
“Our service engineer told us we have at least 15 years' worth of use out of the scanner in the 13 years we've had it,” Willson said. “That's due completely to the amount of use it gets.”
In fact, CT use in general has grown over the years, in part due to its growing versatility. Our Hospital has two standalone CTs for patient scans. The one being replaced now is the “workhorse” unit that gets the most use: inpatient, outpatient, emergency cases, regional patients, and special procedures including kidney cancer biopsy/treatment and lung biopsy.
“This CT does the majority of CT-guided special procedures in Northwestern Ontario,” Willson said. Both CTs have special software that will allow it to be used for cardiac imaging, invaluable for our coming cardiac surgery program.
There is growing demand as well.
“Twenty-five years ago, we would do approximately 2,000 CT scans per year at McKellar Hospital,” Willson said. “Last year, we did over 35,000 scans, and that number is growing about 13% per year.”
In other words, the time to replace this incredibly important diagnostic imaging device is now. Thanks to everyone who purchased a Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket. This is another example of how, with your support of the Thunder Bay 50/50, we all win! It's not too late – purchase tickets online or at the 50/50 Store in the Intercity Shopping Centre. Find out where the Grand Prize is right now at: ThunderBay5050.ca