Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (July 23/99) - Stanton Regional Hospital is getting set for the addition of a CT scan machine, expected to arrive in the late fall.

Renovations are currently being made to the diagnostic imaging department in anticipation of the arrival of the new equipment.

"It's going to bring the benefit of modern medicine that has been difficult to get for patients in the North," said radiologist, Dr. Malcolm Goth.

"It will be a lot less disruptive in the lives of our patients in having a CT scan. Some cases are going to be treated hours earlier than without it."

Patients currently in need of a CT scan are flown to Edmonton for the procedure. A great deal of time and money is expected to be saved by acquiring the device over the long term. The CT scan is expected to cost $1.3 million, including training and renovations.

"Seven hundred and eight thousand dollars in travel cost is expected to be saved, maybe even higher," said Stanton communications co-ordinator, Sue Glowach. "It will also reduce waiting lists for patients being sent south.

"We will be able to perform five or six scans a day. 650 to 1000 are expected to use the CT scan each year."

Last year, 658 patients were sent south for CT scans.

The introduction of the CT scan is only one of a few additions to the hospital since the Stanton Regional Hospital Foundation began a fund-raising drive in 1996 to secure more modern medical equipment. Along with the CT scan, the hospital is anticipating the arrival of a new mammography unit and an ultra-sound machine. Because of the size and sensitivity of the CT scan, the diagnostics imaging department is in need of an overhaul to provide a suitable home for the new equipment. Government tenders for the renovations are expected to be decided some time in early August.

"The CT scan will be an attractive addition to new physicians here who are used to having access to the devise," Goth said.