Saturday, November 10, 2012

Northern Health updates Council on CT Scanner issues

Relief may soon be at hand for North Coast residents, who currently have to make travel plans to receive a CT scan.

The disruption of CT scan services at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, first developed over the summer, requiring local residents and their doctors to have to make alternative arrangements for the medical service.

A situation that for the most part, involved a trip to Terrace's Mills Memorial Hospital or beyond for assistance.

Northern Health has provided an update for the Mayor and Council as to the plans for replacement of the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital's inoperative CT scanner.

In a letter to regional political officials, Sheila Gordon Payne, the Health Services Administrator at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital outlined that the technical issues that resulted in the shutting down of the CT Scanner at the hospital have been addressed and an order placed for a new, more sophisticated scanner.

A temporary room to host the Scanner is being prepared with work already underway on that project, while plans are in development for a more permanent location for the new unit at PRRH.

Ms. Gordon Payne also provided some background on the extra efforts of the staff of both the Prince Rupert and Terrace Hospitals to try and ease the inconvenience to North Coast patients that the lack of CT Scanner service in Prince Rupert has provided for.

While no definitive timeline of implementation was provided in her letter, it appears that Northern Health hopes to have the new CT Scanner in place by early 2013.

The update is no doubt welcome news for local residents, who may not have been overly thrilled at the prospect of Highway travel during the winter months.

You can review her update to Council from the Information to Council section of the City's Website, her correspondence can be found in the Information Package to Council for November 7th.

Background on the CT scanner issue and other items of note from Northern Health can be found in our Northern Health archives.

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