The first-ever state-of-the-art computed tomography (CT) scanner was pressed into service less than an hour after it was officially launched on Monday afternoon at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Mel Chamney, his wife Marge and family gathered in the imaging department at the Estevan hospital with Mel having the honour of initiating the service with a neurological scan.
After it was over, family members James, Mike and Mel produced a cheque in the amount of $5,000 from Chamney Crushing Ltd. for the St. Joseph’s Foundation to express their gratitude. The family said they certainly welcomed the addition to health-care services in southeast Saskatchewan.
“It will beat having to make those long drives into Regina, especially in the winter and it will reduce the wait times all around,” said James.
Dr. Khalid Sheikh, who performs surgeries in Estevan and Weyburn on a regular basis, said CT scans were “an essential service we can now offer. It was a long-awaited addition. On many occasions I’ve had to send a patient into Regina just for a CT scan and Regina, being a catch-all tertiary health service region, often had delays, so the process was highly inconvenient at times, plus risky on occasions, as well as more expensive — with the added time for everyone. Now we can provide a standard of care that patients deserve. And I’m sure Regina will be happy too,” he said amidst a round of laughter from the 100 or more people in attendance.
Provincial Health Minister Dustin Duncan, who represents Weyburn-Big Muddy, which is included in the Sun Country Health Region, said the unique proposal coming from the Estevan committee over three years ago, was eventually accepted and the process began. The uniqueness was the fact that the local committee and St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation were willing to purchase the $1.2 million scanner and also pay for the necessary renovations at the hospital to accommodate it. He said the other factor was that this was the first CT scanner to be approved for a district hospital. All of the other 13 scanners in the province are located in larger regional hospitals.
Duncan paid tribute to Estevan MLA Doreen Eagles, who was unable to attend the function, but he noted she was a committed advocate for the project, as were the local committee members who continually lobbied for the service.
“The growth in services will continue and will include private and public services. It’s been great to see the partnerships that came together to make this happen,” Duncan said, referring to the fact that local rural municipalities and local businesses and individuals provided large financial donations which led to the launch date.
Mayfair Radiology Services of Regina and Calgary will provide the image readings and assist with the diagnostics. They were represented at the opening by Drs. Illya Boridy and Kaushik Bhagat and Lana Bruner.
Greg Hoffort, executive director of St. Joseph’s, served as emcee for the afternoon program that included words of welcome and celebration from Sun Country Health Region’s CEO Marga Cugnet, Sun Country board chairwoman Marilyn Charlton, Dr. Sheikh, Mayor Roy Ludwig who is also vice-chairman of the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation and Duncan.
A more complete summary of the celebration and comments from health-care providers and participants can be found in this weekend’s edition of Southeast Lifestyles.
