West Coast General Hospital in Port Alberni will be getting a new CT scanner that will be faster and more reliable than the current technology at the hospital.
Dr. Brent Carson, medical lead for medical imaging for region 2 at Island Health, says the new scanner will be able to provide more information to medical staff.
“This differs in several ways relative to the previous CT scanner that we had,” Carson told CHEK News in a Zoom interview. “Specifically, it’s going to be faster, it’s going to be more reliable, it’s going to have higher spatial resolution, which means it can give us more minute detail, which can be very important, both in trauma and in cancer imaging.”
Carson says the new CT scanner is set to be delivered to the hospital in Port Alberni next week, then after it is installed and staff have received training, patients should start having access to it at the end of the month.
B.C.’s Ministry of Health paid for the majority of the $2.27 million price tag of the new equipment, with the Alberni Clayoquot Regional Hospital District paying $840,000 and Island Health providing $170,000.
In addition to the new machine, there will be renovations done in the CT scanner room including new lighting, flooring and ceiling replacement and updating the wall finishes.
While the renovations and replacement are underway, a temporary CT scanner trailer is on-site to ensure uninterrupted patient care, according to Island Health.
Island Health says 5,809 CT scans were conducted at West Coast General Hospital in the 2022/2023 fiscal year. For the 2023/2024 fiscal year, it is estimated that 8,641 scans will take place.
RELATED: Port Alberni hospital emergency department expansion complete, accepting patients
Laura Brougham
