KGH gets speedier CT scanner thanks to volunteer fundraising
Hospital auxiliaries spend 3 years raising $1.9M for new scanner that’s twice as fast as existing models
Patients at Kelowna General Hospital’s emergency department will soon have quicker access to a CT scanner thanks to the fundraising efforts of volunteers.
Members of the hospital’s four auxiliaries collected $1.9 million for the new scanner, located in a room directly across from the ER.
“It’s a lot of money for volunteers to raise on their own, and, in fact, the price of the scanner went up as we were doing the fundraising,” Clare Mallow, who represents the auxiliaries on the KGH Foundation board, said Thursday.
It took about three years to collect the necessary money through the sale of items in thrift stores, catering events and in-hospital services such as a coffee and gift shop.
“This is a CT scanner that will be right across from the emergency department, so when a patient comes in who needs a scan they won’t have to be transported anywhere else in the hospital,” Mallow said.
“It’s much better for patients, and it’ll help doctors make the diagnosis and decisions they need to more quickly,” she said.
Kelowna General Hospital already has two CT scanners.
The new one is expected to be fully in service by July.
The new so-called “flash” scanner is state-of-the-art, CT technologist Bob Tanaka said, producing high-quality images in about half the time of the existing machines. It also subjects patients to lower doses of radiation than other scanners, he said.
“When every moment counts, having access to the CT scanner right in the emergency department can be the difference that saves a person’s life,” said Joey Ruffell, section head for KGH imaging.
The hospital auxiliaries, with hundreds of members, operate in Peachland, Rutland, Winfield and Kelowna.