Recent improvements to the health region's diagnostic imaging systems are a feather in the cap of the Ministry of Health, but The Health Foundation of East Central Saskatchewan wants to remind residents it was local donations that made the upgrades possible.
The RIS/PACS system, which enables electronic sharing of medical images such as ultrasounds, CT scans, and x-rays between medical professionals across the province, is a major advance in healthcare service, and it's backed by well over $2 million in imaging equipment donated through The Health Foundation.
"[Sunrise Health Region] has as modern a set of diagnostic equipment as anybody in the province, and probably has more of everything than anywhere outside of Regina or Saskatoon," says Ross Fisher, executive director of The Health Foundation.
Over the last decade, The Health Foundation has purchased a radiographic/fluoroscopic x-ray unit, two ultrasound machines, a CT scanner (and later an upgrade for it), a digital mammography machine, and an echocardiogram machine among hundreds of purchases in other departments.
Anticipating the arrival of a system like RIS-PACS, for the last six years the foundation has been purchasing high-end digital models of imaging equipment. In addition to producing better quality images, these machines eliminate the intermediate film step required before viewing and sharing the results, saving time, money, and facility space.
The foundation also purchased the high-quality computer monitors radiologists use to examine images, and cost-shared the stations where they do their work.
All of these purchases not only improve patient care, notes Fisher, but also help in recruiting doctors."They always ask, 'What equipment are you running?' They want to work with current equipment."
