A C.T. scanner at North Hastings Hospital would help health care in the community in a number of ways.
That from the hospital’s head physician, Dr. Parambir Keila
At Monday’s launch for the Back the Cat campaign, Keila explained that a C.T. — or Cat – scanner takes three-dimensional images. Those images give doctors more detailed information on what’s ailing their patients, compared to an X-ray.
But currently, patients who require a C.T. scan – perhaps for a blood clot or brain hemorrhage issue — are sent to Belleville General Hospital with a nurse. Keila said that’s not convenient for the patient, nor the hospital’s staffing situation.
He added that a C.T. scanner will also help recruit doctors.
“If I have that technology here, I’m not losing a nurse anymore,” he said. “If I’m trying to recruit a physician, and they’re interested in coming to a small town, and I can say I have something that others don’t …. It’s a competitive landscape. Now, this gives us a leg up.”
The Back the Cat campaign is being run by the North Hastings Fund Development Committee and is calling on the community to raise the final $300,000 to make a CT scanner at the hospital possible.
It plans to hold and support numerous fundraising events in the coming months.