Hospital starts installation of new CT scanner
Hospital starts installation of new CT scanner
Fundraising campaign garners enough for the $1.4 million machine
If you’ve tried to Catch the Ace, curled in the chocolate and wine bonspiel, enjoyed the Incredible Edibles Doctors’ Cookoff, or any of the many, many other fundraising events for the Campbellford Memorial Hospital Foundation in recent years, there is good news. They said you were helping buy a CT scanner and you actually did.
Campbellford Memorial Hospital announced today that it will be installing a new CT scanner over the coming weeks. The $1.4 million cost will be paid by the hospital foundation from all those community donations.
The CT scanner is just one of many upgrades the hospital needs. “Our fundraising goal for both the CT Scanner, clinical information system supports and campaign expenses was $2 million,” said John Russell, executive director of the foundation.
The new device, which replaces a 13-year-old machine, will be more reliable and provide cleaner imaging, allowing our physicians to make more efficient diagnoses, the hospital said.
The CT scanner is a powerful imaging device that allows physicians to diagnose and treat a variety of conditions without the need to send patients to a larger hospital. “It really was a game changer when we installed the current CT scanner 13 years ago,” said Diagnostic Imaging Manager Colleen Smith. “You typically don’t see this type of equipment in smaller hospitals, and it allows us to provide a level of care to our patients often not seen in communities of our size.”
“It never ceases to amaze me how much support our community shows the hospital,” said foundation chair Martha Hunt. “2023 was a record-breaking year for community support of the hospital. We have raised just over 90 per cent of our fundraising goal, but with a last push are confident we will hit our target.”
Much more fundraising will be needed if the province approves the proposed new hospital. “Redevelopment is going to be the largest capital campaign our area has ever seen,” Hunt said. “It is going to be all hands on deck, and the overwhelming success of our CT scanner replacement campaign gives me every confidence that we’ll be able to deliver.”
The province does not pay for medical equipment, it has to be funded by local efforts.
Work on replacing the new CT scanner started today and is slated for completion in early April. During this time CT scans will not be available at the hospital, so arrangements have been made with Peterborough Regional Health Centre and Northumberland Hills Hospital to ensure that patients requiring an urgent CT scan are able to get one.
“After the CT campaign we will switch to a long list of capital equipment required throughout the hospital,” Russell said. He expects the management team and hospital board will finalize a new capital list by the end of March.