CT scanner finally arrives in Port Alberni
WAWMEESH G. HAMILTON/Alberni Valley News West Coast General Hospital site administrator Ellen Brown tidy’s the new $700,000 CT scanner. which became operational on Sept.9.
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Port Alberni residents won’t have to leave the Alberni Valley any longer for a specialized medical scan, West Coast General Hospital site administrator Ellen Brown said.
The hospital is now home to a brand new $1.6 million CT scan wing and machine. The unit has been in operation since Sept. 9, Brown said.
A CT Scanner is an X-ray machine that produces images of cross-section of the tiniest anatomical details of the human body. This machine takes 64 different images, which can be assembled and viewed as a three dimensional model later, Brown said.
The machine will run three days a week.
“We’ve been busy and have been filling our days,” Brown said. “We’re booking all the time we have.”
The machine requires specialized training to operate, so the hospital will bring a CT technologist from Nanaimo for now, Brown said.
Construction of the $940,000 1,300-square-foot wing started in February and finished in August.
The $724,822 scanner was underwritten by the West Coast General Hospital Foundation, Alberni-Clayquot Regional Hospital District and the Rising Son Peoples Home Association.
According to VIHA, 84,855 CT scans were performed in 2008. Approximately 2,500 scans are estimated to be done at WCGH in 2009.
reporter@albernivalleynews.com
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