Patients will have access to enhanced diagnostic testing as a result of a $17.7-million investment in new and replacement equipment for hospitals around the province, Health Minister Theresa Oswald announced.
“Providing the latest in medical equipment ensures hospitals can continue to provide quality care and treatment for Manitobans,” said Oswald. “This new equipment will upgrade our medical capabilities and ensure patients get the best diagnostic services possible.”
The investments include $3.7 million for renovations and equipment for a new operating room angiography suite at the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) Winnipeg, which will increase the number of angiography procedures performed at the facility. The new operating room angiography suite will allow for an increased number of vascular surgeries, neurosurgeries and trauma surgeries.
“Patient care will be well served by this significant and substantial investment in diagnostic equipment,” said Dr. Sandor Demeter, medical director of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s Diagnostic Imaging Program.
The new equipment will bring the total number of angiography suites at HSC Winnipeg to three and will expand the surgical capacity at the facility. Planning and renovations needed for the installation of the equipment are now underway.
More than $14-million will be used to purchase and install other replacement diagnostic equipment including:
• 14 ultrasound scanners at the HSC over the next three years;
• a CT scanner at the HSC for pediatric patients;
• two angiography suites for heart catheterization procedures at St. Boniface Hospital;
• a CT scanner at The Pas Health Centre;
• a radiographic/fluoroscopic suite for diagnostics at the Grace Hospital;
• a digital radiology suite at the HSC;
• a portable C-arm for operating room procedures at Victoria General Hospital;
• a CT scanner workstation and an image intensifier at the Selkirk and District General Hospital;
• an ultrasound scanner at Concordia Hospital;
• an ultrasound scanner at the Brandon Regional Health Centre
• an ultrasound scanner at St. Boniface Hospital;
• an ultrasound scanner at Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach; and
• other replacement diagnostic equipment, such as a radiology suite at the Boissevain Health Centre; mobile X-ray units at the Beausejour Hospital, Portage District General Hospital and Roblin District Health Centre; and a radiology suite at the Winnipegosis and District Health Centre.
These investments are part of a two-year, $85-million investment in specialized medical equipment announced in late 2008, representing a two-year doubling of the province’s annual specialized health equipment budget. In the last decade, the province has invested more than $300 million in new and replacement medical equipment including:
• an $18-million investment in cancer radiation therapy equipment to replace three linear accelerators in Winnipeg and install one in Brandon;
• $8 million to develop a dedicated children’s magnetic resonance imager (MRI) that will improve patient care and help reduce wait times for all Manitobans who need diagnostic imaging services;
• the purchase and installation of a new MRI for the Brandon Regional Health Centre that involved a commitment of more than $6 million in capital investment and an additional $1 million in annual operating funding;
• the installation of a state-of-the-art $3-million MRI for Boundary Trails Health Centre, bringing this diagnostic equipment to a second health-care facility outside Winnipeg;
• a $2.1-million capital investment in a CT scanner for the Portage and District General Hospital; and
• more than $1.2 million to purchase and install a replacement CT scanner at the Thompson General Hospital.
