Northern Health updates Council on CT Scanner issues

Relief may soon be at hand for North Coast residents, who currently have to make travel plans to receive a CT scan.

The disruption of CT scan services at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, first developed over the summer, requiring local residents and their doctors to have to make alternative arrangements for the medical service.

A situation that for the most part, involved a trip to Terrace's Mills Memorial Hospital or beyond for assistance.

Northern Health has provided an update for the Mayor and Council as to the plans for replacement of the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital's inoperative CT scanner.

In a letter to regional political officials, Sheila Gordon Payne, the Health Services Administrator at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital outlined that the technical issues that resulted in the shutting down of the CT Scanner at the hospital have been addressed and an order placed for a new, more sophisticated scanner.

A temporary room to host the Scanner is being prepared with work already underway on that project, while plans are in development for a more permanent location for the new unit at PRRH.

Ms. Gordon Payne also provided some background on the extra efforts of the staff of both the Prince Rupert and Terrace Hospitals to try and ease the inconvenience to North Coast patients that the lack of CT Scanner service in Prince Rupert has provided for.

While no definitive timeline of implementation was provided in her letter, it appears that Northern Health hopes to have the new CT Scanner in place by early 2013.

The update is no doubt welcome news for local residents, who may not have been overly thrilled at the prospect of Highway travel during the winter months.

You can review her update to Council from the Information to Council section of the City's Website, her correspondence can be found in the Information Package to Council for November 7th.

Background on the CT scanner issue and other items of note from Northern Health can be found in our Northern Health archives.

Northern Health examining its options on CT scanner situation at PRRH

With a potential bill of anywhere between 350,000 dollars and 1 million dollars, Northern Health is currently trying to determine what to do about Prince Rupert Regional Hospital's shut down CT Scanner.

The unit which has been out of service at the Hospital over the last few months is proving to be problematic for Northern Health, not only in its operational status at over eight years of age in question, but its actual location inside the hospital has apparently provided for a number of issues as well.

Two points that Northern Health is looking over as they try to determine the best course of action.

As Northern Health weighs its options and puts together its plan of replacement, local health care users will be required to travel to Terrace or beyond for any CT scanner requirements.

That makes for a  situation that local residents no doubt hope is rectified sooner rather than later as the winter months arrive making travel across the North West more difficult than during the spring and summer seasons.

The Northern View-- Hospital needs to replace broken CT scanner
CFTK TV 7-- Rupert CT Scanner needs replacement