Island Health is celebrating the delivery of its first-ever mobile computed tomography (CT) scanner.
The new scanner was trucked from Nanaimo to Port Hardy Hospital on Tuesday.
The mobile CT scanner is unique because it can be transported in a fully self-contained container and shipped between different sites, according to Island Health.
The health authority says it’s now working on installing the CT scanner, as well as training staff, accrediting workers and testing the device in Port Hardy.
CT scanners, also known as CAT scans, use a combination of X-rays and computer technology to take images of the inside of someone’s body.
Previously, the only other CT scanner in the North Island was located at the North Island Hospital in Campbell River, some 238 kilometres away from Port Hardy by highway.
“Approximately 1,500 CT scans are required for people within the North Vancouver Island area each year,” said Island Health spokesperson Dominc Abassi in a statement Wednesday.
“Currently, patients are required to travel out of their home communities to receive these diagnostic scans. Introduction of mobile CT diagnostic services to North Vancouver Island will improve access to this service,” he said.
Island Health hopes to have the first patients scanned with the new scanner in December.
The new CT scanner is part of the province’s $30 million plan to stabilize health care in the North Island, which has seen frequent staffing challenges and unexpected emergency room closures over the past year.
The province announced the multi-million dollar plan in January about a month before 300 people rallied in the North Island to call out the deteriorating state of the health-care system.
The province’s plan includes major recruitment campaigns, hospital renovations and increased home-health support.
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Adam Chan
