Adding thousands of CT scans for patients will:
Provide more life-saving procedures
Offer less invasive treatments
Reduce wait times by over 50%
Give more diagnoses, quicker
Improve access & care
Ensure better treatment outcomes
What our local health care heroes have to say about the importance of CT Scans…
LEANNE’S STORY:
CT scans at VJH helped a young mother in our community overcome more than one life-altering diagnosis. Without the success of her CT scans, Leanne says she would not be here today.
AN URGENT DEMAND:
One CT scanner. Thousands of Patients. These numbers were not sustainable.
New provincial guidelines require a second scanner after 14,000 scans. We had one CT scanner performing close to 20,000 exams year. This workhorse was pushed past its limits: running 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Not anymore!
We will now have now have 2 top-of-the line CT scanners that will increase access and reduce wait times.
OUR VISION:
We are creating a comprehensive, coordinated, and integrated team-based approach to improve patient outcomes in our community. The immediate solution is the expansion of CT services at VJH. First, our existing machine was replaced in June with a top-of-the-line scanner. Now, we're adding a new CT Scanner Suite co-located close to our MRI suite. Optimal patient flow and staffing efficiencies will be achieved with adjacent waiting rooms, control rooms and medical offices – all in close proximity to the emergency department – the highest user department at the hospital.
Our medical staff are thrilled to have this priority project become a reality due to the generosity of our community. They will now be able to improve patient care with this state-of-the-art equipment.
CALL B.C. YOUR HOLIDAY HOME?
In 2008, entrepreneur Don Friesen collapsed suddenly from a massive heart attack while visiting B.C. from his home in Alberta. He was kept alive at the scene by a passing doctor, before being rushed to the ICU at Vernon Jubilee Hospital (VJH) to undergo life-saving treatment.
Don had only a one percent chance of survival…
Life saving diagnoses are possible with next-generation CT imaging equipment.
A computed tomography (CT or CAT) scan is a medical imaging technique that takes pictures of organs, bones and tissues in real time. These multiple x-rays capture cross-sectional images of your body, or ‘slices’, which can be viewed from multiple angles, creating more complex 3D images.
Newer models take spiral images that produce even better, sharper images with faster scan times, allowing medical teams to examine without operating. With the latest technology, more non-invasive procedures will be performed, reducing pressure on operating rooms.
When patients and families count every second, a CT exam that scans a human heart faster than a heartbeat will change lives.
CT scans offer life saving test to patients in our community:
Instant inspection of internal injuries due to trauma
Improved planning and directing of procedures for surgery
Reliable baselines to plan and monitor cancer treatment
The impact of a new CT scanner goes beyond individual patient care. With less pressure on the system, our healthcare workers will have more tools to provide better care.
One scanner will be dedicated to emergency, trauma and in hospital use; the other, focused on community needs and interventional procedures.
Our medical teams are inspired by the possibilities that come with doubling our high functioning CT scanners. Combining innovative programs with an expansion of special exams and new healthcare services will help raise our healthcare standards to meet future demands.
Doubling CT scanner capacity means increased access, improved care and better outcomes. Now and into the future.
