St. Paul’s Hospital unveils new CT scanner

St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon unveiled their brand new CT scanner at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday.

The new $2.4 million scanner is one of five now operational in the city and was much needed at the hospital.

“Well our previous scanner was 14 years old, so within that 14 year span the technology obviously increases dramatically so in terms of detail and speed there is no comparison,” said Shane Timm, director of diagnostic imaging for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA).

“We use these CT scanners within Saskatoon hundreds of times a day, on hundreds of patients. A CT scan is becoming more and more prominent in a patient’s journey in terms of their care in terms of diagnosing any illnesses or abnormalities that may be found within the patient.”

St. Paul’s Hospital CEO Jean Morrison said getting this scanner was the culmination of years of planning and will make for a quicker, easier experience for the patients.

“It was a multi year process of looking at diagnostic imaging needs across the city and saying how do we make sure we can always serve people in a timely way and properly,” she said, noting the prior CT scanner was going down for repairs far too often.

“Having machines that are always online and not having to be shut down means that patients get their appointments booked and they can come and have their care, versus having to phone someone and say sorry we are not able to care for you today.”

Timm said the SHA performs around 50,000 CT scans in Saskatoon each year with 25 per cent of those being done at St. Paul’s.