CT Scanner Campaign

Until this successful campaign to purchase a CT scanner for the Regional Health Centre, more than 2,000 people from east central Saskatchewan travelled to Regina, Saskatoon, Dauphin, Calgary, Brandon or the USA annually for CT scans. Some had to travel by ambulance, which can be very expensive.

With this equipment now located in our region, about 3,000 CT scans are done here annually. Waiting lists are reduced, and diagnosis and treatment times is quicker. The local share of the equipment was $300,000, raised by The Health Foundation thanks to the generous support of individuals, organizations and businesses in the region.

The equipment allows people who cannot hold their breath for long to be diagnosed, such as the elderly, children, people with breathing problems or disorders, infants, and the very ill.

Some of the conditions for which a CT scanner is used are brain tumours, cancerous growths, lesions, assessment of lung nodules, stroke symptoms, and angiography (looking at blood vessels). A CT scan can also be used to guide biopsies and catheter placement.

The region’s medical staff now has a CT scanner that helps save lives, provides earlier diagnosis of certain medical conditions, provides faster service, reduces the need for patients to travel elsewhere, reduces waiting lists, and helps recruit doctors and medical specialists.