The CT scanner that has been installed at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Estevan will be put into service on Feb. 22 said the hospital’s executive director Greg Hoffort.
The scanner was to have been activated for patients earlier, but stalled contract negotiations with a supplier of radiology services set the launch date back.
That issue has now been settled with Mayfair Diagnostics of Regina having signed an agreement to provide those services for St. Joe’s and the Sun Country Health Region.
“The training for the two CT technicians is complete,” said Hoffort, adding that additional training for technicians in the future, is ongoing, which will allow for an extension of services for the new machine going forward.
He said a radiologist from Mayfair will be on site in Estevan for the launch week and the contract agreement calls for a radiologist presence at the hospital for one week every quarter. Otherwise the CT images will be read in Regina or by Mayfair’s radiologists in Calgary, depending on the need and the timing.
“The additional supplies have been ordered and GE (General Electric, the supplier of the scanner) trainers and experts will also be on hand for the launch,” said Hoffort, who added that actual patient flow to the scanner will probably begin the next day.
“In the meantime, all staff and physicians are being updated regarding the supplies, materials and when the scanner will be made available and how emergency situations will be handled,” said Hoffort.
The executive director said it has taken awhile to complete all the details, which changed the launch date from an original December 2015 startup, but that has given the teams time to complete training and cover all details.
During the Sun Country Health Region’s board of directors meeting on Jan. 27, Marga Cugnet, the CEO for the health region, noted the hospital renovation costs and most of the purchase costs involved in the $1.2 million project, have been borne by the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation.
She also reported that a recent board-to-board meeting involving board members from the hospital, which is an affiliate facility in the health region, and the Sun Country board, went well with a positive exchange of ideas regarding budget challenges, appointments and future planning.
Sun Country board chairwoman Marilyn Charlton said it was a positive exchange that included St. Joseph’s chairman Don Kindopp, as well as Hoffort and the other hospital board members.
