Health centre board confirms purchase of Edge Plus CT scanner for Kincardine hospital

At its open public meeting Wednesday (Feb. 3), the South Bruce Grey Health Centre board of directors confirmed its decision to purchase the Siemens Somatom Edge Plus CT scanner for the Kincardine hospital.

That’s the word from the board in a press release, issued Friday.

After an extensive review of various CT scanner options for the Kincardine hospital, evaluating the needs of patients and clinical staff, quality of imaging, radiation dose, technology, capital cost and on-going annual operational costs, and consultation with key stakeholders, the hospital board selected the Edge Plus CT scanner from Siemens in December.

The decision between two Siemens CT models, the Edge Plus and the Drive, was carefully evaluated by the hospital board during the decision-making process, after seeking input from the health centre’s chief radiologist, Dr. Douglas Mowbray, the Kincardine Physicians Group, and Siemens CT experts.

The board’s decision to purchase the Edge Plus CT model has been confirmed based on the following:
 

• The internal components of the Edge Plus are identical to the Drive – both use the same detectors and tubes, same dose, same software platform, same slice thickness, producing identical image quality, with the exception that the Drive has two tubes (faster scan in some circumstances, not impacting the majority of scans)
• There is no clinical difference in the quality of the general CT scanning capabilities of the Edge Plus versus the Drive
• The Edge Plus will eliminate the need for patients needing to travel to Walkerton or other sites for CT scans - the comprehensive technology of this machine will more than meet the needs of the Kincardine community
• The Edge Plus is the newest Siemens CT technology available (Health Canada approved it in 2020); this technology is currently in use in 53 sites in the United States
• The Edge Plus can perform dual energy scanning through the use of twin Beam technology
• The lower cost of ownership of this model will free up resources to support other programs and services at the Kincardine hospital, such as the future hospital redevelopment project, and other expensive diagnostic equipment that will require replacement in the coming years (mammography and X-ray)
• The feedback and advice from Mowbray, who reads the images produced by the scanner and provides reports to physicians, supports this decision
• The feedback and advice of cardiologist Dr. Gerard Shoemaker who, together with his colleagues, has seen more than 2,000 patients in Kincardine over the past four years

“We appreciate and respect the passion and investment of our community in ensuring that an appropriate model of CT scanner is selected that will meet the needs of the community now and into the future, and I can assure you that our board and leadership team share this goal,” said hospital board chairman John Gilbert.

“This is excellent news for the Kincardine community. Later this year, we will be breaking ground on an addition to the hospital to house the new scanner. Patients will no longer have to travel out of the community for CT scans. And this is just the beginning; the plans for the larger redevelopment project are well under way.”

A question-and-answer document has been posted on the health centre website, at sbghc.on.ca/q-a-kincardine-hospital-ct-project/, to provide further information on the Edge Plus, and to address questions that have been raised in the community regarding the model decision.