New CT scanner to be installed at Walkerton hospital

Renovations will begin Jan. 30 for the replacement of the CT scanner at the South Bruce Grey Health Centre’s Walkerton site.

Through the generous support of the Walkerton and District Hospital Foundation, which is leading the fund-raising efforts through the Come Together campaign, and the Kincardine, Chesley and Durham hospital foundations which have also pledged generous support, the South Bruce Grey Health Centre has purchased a Somatom Drive CT unit from SIEMENS Canada.

The new 256-slice CT scanner will feature significantly reduced radiation exposure for patients, expanded diagnostic technologies and applications, advanced diagnostic capabilities and improved image quality, and will be only the second deployment of this advanced technology in Ontario.

The current General Electric VCT 64‐slice CT scanner was installed in June, 2005, and since that time, has performed approximately 5,000 scans per year. The program serves a diverse patient population in southern Bruce and Grey counties for emergency/trauma scans, cancer diagnosis and follow‐up, and more.

The South Bruce Grey Health Centre was the first rural hospital corporation in the province to acquire a CT licence and technology thanks to community support.

“The SIEMENS Somatom Drive CT unit will provide our patients with the most advanced imaging available today,“ says Paul Rosebush, health centre president and chief executive officer. “Our patients will continue to be well-served locally and can be proud of the quality of imaging services available at the health centre.
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“The new CT scanner will provide the health centre’s imaging department with the necessary tools to continue offering the highest-quality services to our communities, as well as the innovation to advance rural health care,” says Trevor Filsinger, diagnostic imaging manager for the health centre. “We are very grateful for the support of the foundations and our
communities.”

CT service delivery will continue during the renovations in an on‐site mobile CT trailer. The new scanner is expected to be operational in June, 2018.

“On behalf of the Walkerton and District Hospital Foundation’s board of directors and CT scan committee, I am excited about this announcement and the great benefits that this new scanner will have for health care, our hospital and for all of our patients,” says Brittany Buehlow, development officer for the Walkerton hospital foundation. “We thank everyone who has supported this worthwhile campaign in any way so far.”



Anticipating the arrival of a new CT scanner at the Walkerton hospital, are Paul Rosebush (left), president and chief executive officer of the South Bruce Grey Health Centre; Brittany Buehlow of the Walkerton and District Hospital Foundation; and Trevor Filsinger, manager, diagnostic imaging; photo courtesy of the South Bruce Grey Health Centre