City Hospital Foundation raising $3M for state-of-the-art CT scanner

The Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation is working to raise millions of dollars for a new, state-of-the-art CT scanner.

The foundation said it wants the hospital to have the very best technology, in order to deliver the best care possible to patients.

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“We’re asking donors to raise $3 million,” foundation CEO Steve Shannon said in a statement.

“It’s the most money the Foundation has raised for a single piece of equipment in decades. But it’s important because every day of the year people come to the hospital to begin or continue their journeys of diagnosis, treatment or recovery. For so many patients, it starts here.”

The CT scanner at City Hospital was used to help more than 15,000 patients in 2022-23, according to Richard Dagenais, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s director of medical imaging. He noted the hospital and its aging scanner serve people from all over Saskatchewan.

“People from Saskatoon and area, from northern Saskatchewan and also from all across the province come to City Hospital for CT imaging,” Dagenais added. “It’s a very busy site.”

Because of its high use, the foundation said the scanner is nearing the end of its life, and isn’t expected to last beyond 2026.

“A new CT scanner will use emerging technology that isn’t available anywhere else in the province,” the foundation explained.

The scanner will be used to diagnose and monitor surgical patients and patients who have experienced strokes, and will also help to detect and monitor cancer cases. Shannon said a new scanner with modern technology would bring “huge benefits” to patients.

“It’s faster so that makes it safer because of less exposure. It also takes much clearer and better images that lead to the best treatment decisions possible,” Shannon said.