Centre and northern Wellington residents are a big step closer to having CT diagnostic services close to home.
Groves Hospital board chairman Janet Vallery announced on Feb. 13 the board of directors supports modest renovations required to house the new CT scanner equipment in the existing hospital. The CT scanner will move to the new hospital following Ministry of Health approval and building construction.
Vallery said, “The CT Plus Campaign has raised $1.3-million, or 45% of our goal, to date.
“We are very pleased with the success of the campaign. Although we are still short of our $3-million goal we want to have our facility ready to implement the new service as soon as possible following installation of the CT machine. We have confidence that our community members will continue to be generous with their donations to help us achieve our fundraising goal over the next few months.”
Jackie Ranahan, chairman of the Groves Hospital Foundation agreed. “Our community has consistently been generous in the past to support hospital needs. In recent years, we went over target for our mammography equipment campaign and also for the oncology unit campaign.”
Computed Tomography (CT) scanning provides more complete information than the standard X-ray. By combining pictures taken from multiple angles, CT can produce precise, cross-sectional images of bones, organs, and soft tissue, making it a valuable diagnostic tool for physicians. It is the “gold standard” for diagnosing serious illness and injuries related to the heart, abdomen, head and chest.
Renovations will begin as soon as a contract can be negotiated and will be completed within four months.
The new machine could be installed and in use soon after, dependent on the foundation raising sufficient money for the purchase.
Groves President and Chief Executive Officer Jerome Quenneville said, “Our community has been waiting for a CT scanner for some time. I am very happy to be a part of making our dream a reality.”
The CT scanner will serve a population of over 60,000 people living in centre and north Wellington County.
