THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation announced the purchase of $6.6 million worth of essential equipment at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
The funding was made possible through private donors, event participants, and the Thunder Bay 50/50 draw.
Donna Yocom, Foundation Grant Committee Member, said the purchase of equipment will allow “greater healthcare, closer to home.”
“Our patients don't have to travel as far as they have in the past. It just expands the exceptional care that we're already able to provide, but we're bringing it to a new level now and it is thanks to all of the donors and the generosity of people,” said Yocom
Departments throughout the Hospital applied for grants to acquire new equipment or upgraded equipment that enhances patient care.
A total of 36 grants were approved for funding ranging from $7,000 to over $750,000.
Some of the key items include:
- $500,000 to install a new linear accelerator to enhance cancer treatment.
- $500,000 for a new Cardiovascular Imaging System which is vital for timely diagnoses.
- $434,034 for trauma care equipment impacting the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, Operating Room, and Labour & Delivery.
- $271,418 for orthopaedic equipment to meet the growing demand for surgeries.
- $238,300 to replace outdated or unsafe equipment in NICU, Pediatrics, Labour & Delivery, and Maternal Newborn.
Yocom said that they were also able to fund 1,583,000 to support essential equipment and upgrades in our diagnostic imaging department.
1.5T MRI Scanner Upgrade which will account for 45 per cent of the department's workload increasing the quality of care for patients who require MRI diagnostics.
Allison Pages, a professional practice lead of nuclear medicine, said “all these upgrades increase patient quality for the exam, but it's also increasing decreasing the image time. So, they're not having to be on that scan bed longer.”
“A lot of this aging equipment breaks down unexpectedly and it needs repairing and a lot of these tests are urgent,” she added.
Pages noted that the SPECT Camera Replacement for Nuclear Medicine will decrease wait times because the new cameras will scan much faster.
“One of our main scans is doing bone scans. We'll be able to get more done in a day if we have this new scanner,” said Pages.
