A new CT scanner in Saugeen Shores is now up and running, and Brightshores Health System officials say it will help provide better service in the region.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Wednesday evening at the Southampton Hospital to mark the start of operation for the new machine — a Siemens Somatom X.cite CT scanner.
It is the second CT scanner in Brightshores Health System. The other is at the Owen Sound Regional Hospital, where more than 16,000 scans were completed last year. Around 20 per cent of those were for patients from the Saugeen Shores area.
“The wait times have been climbing trying to get in for routine scanning. We do really well for inpatients, emergencies and urgent oncology, however routine imaging has had quite a bit of a delay to get into,” says Brightshores Director of Medical Imaging and Cardiology Kathy Beattie. “By implementing the new scanner at the Southampton site, we are opening up capacity for additional scanning procedures.”
Beattie says the new scanner in Southampton will operate from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.
Brightshores President and CEO Ann Ford says the new machine will also help reduce costs associated with ambulance transfers to Owen Sound, and give patients faster access to test results.
The CT scanner is located in the old lab space at the Southampton Hospital. The site underwent an emergency room renovation and 10,000 square-foot addition in 2019 to help prepare for the arrival of the medical imaging device.
The Saugeen Memorial Hospital Foundation coordinated a $3-million fundraising campaign to support the purchase and installation of the machine.
“The community dollars were well spent,” Beattie says. “We have one of the latest and greatest technologies out there. The new scanner is faster, the scan acquisition is much quicker.”