CLOSER DIAGNOSTICS
Windsor Region Hospital’s chief of oncology Dr. Sindu Kanjeekal talks about the importance of having a local PET scan on Tuesday during the announcement of a new $3.5-million PET/CT scanner coming to Windsor in April, thanks to funding from the provincial
Windsor cancer patients will soon have more access to diagnostic testing close to home. Windsor Regional Hospital announced Tuesday the province and Cancer Care Ontario will fully fund a new $3.5-million PET/CT scanner. Hundreds of people living in the Windsor-Essex area currently have to travel hours out of the region for critical diagnostic tests. In March, the province announced it will cover the costs of PET/CT scans, including the renewal and replacement of older machines.
“One of the misnomers or information that’s out there is that Ontario health care is 100 per cent funded by the government,” Windsor Regional Hospital president and CEO, David Musyj said. “No it’s not.”
Hospitals in Ontario are responsible for capital costs, including new and replacement equipment — with the newer exception of radiation machines.
“We were lucky enough as a region, to need a replacement of a PET/CT and the government came forward with Cancer Care Ontario and said you are going to be the first to get a new PET/CT,” Musyj said.
Windsor Regional Hospital planned to bring a new PET/CT scanner to the region previously, but was put on pause due to issues surrounding construction costs. “There was a private (machine) nearing end of life, having issues keeping up and running 24/7,” said Musyj, meaning patients had to travel for tests. “From this point forward, patients who need access to a PET/CT will be able to stay home and have access to it,” he said.
The new PET/CT scanner and its building are in the midst of construction off-site. When complete, they will be placed in a former garden area at the Cancer Centre at Met Campus.
The machine should arrive April 15 and be fully functional and available to patients the first week of May.
“It’s a great day for Windsor-Essex, it’s a great day for our region,” Musyj said. “At the start we’re going to be seeing some four, five, six hundred patients. “Projections in the future is definitely 700-plus who will be getting their care here. At home where it belongs, where they deserve to have it so they don’t have to travel.” At Tuesday’s announcement, photos of the new machine were revealed, showcasing the new technology and the building that will house it.
“We’re going to try to make it as outdoorsy of a look as possible so they’re not looking at four bland walls. And try to make our patients as comfortable as they can be in the new PET/CT,” Musyj said. PET/CT scans are one of the leading technologies in diagnostic testing.
“It’s not just a still image. It shows the metabolic change over a period of time to see how the disease is advancing,” he said.
Dr. Sindu Kanjeekal, chief of oncology, emphasized how crucial the scanner technology can be. “It’s very important sometimes for staging regarding surgery. It can be important for response assessment. It can be important for assessing remission and recurrence,” she said. Previous access to the private PET/CT scan was better, but Kanjeekal said this past year has been especially tough.
“I think every one of us here has had to recommend a patient drive out of city, down the 401, even on a day like today there may be someone on their way to get a PET/CT,” she said. “So it’s wonderful that we can say we have one here in Windsor.
“You need this, we’ve got it.” Former cancer patient and current activist, Jeff Casey, spoke about his experience travelling to Hamilton for testing.
“That was the most important test of my life,” he said.
“It’s a very significant piece of equipment that will make it easier for our patients going through cancer."