RENFREW COUNTY (Pembroke) — The Pembroke Regional Hospital has made a significant investment in new state-of-the-art x-ray equipment for its Diagnostic Imaging department which will help meet expanded service demands while offering improved imaging and reduced radiation doses for patients.
“Our original x-ray equipment was installed over a decade-and-a-half ago when the new department was built as part of Tower B,” said Diagnostic Imaging Director Jim Lumsden.
Since then, he said, imaging has come a long way and, with the launch of the hospital’s Orthopaedics program in 2017 came a significant increase in patient volume and the need for improved imaging,.
“With the launch of our Orthopaedics program, the number of x-rays in our Diagnostic Imaging department increased from approximately 2,500 to 3,000 per month. Our existing x-ray machines couldn’t keep up with demand which caused some added delays. In addition, our existing equipment had reached an age where replacement was necessary so the timing for this investment was right,” Mr. Lumsden said.
He added that the MRTs (Medical Radiation Technologists) did a great job managing the disruption over the past year to ensure there was minimal impact on the patients.
Melissa Hellmig, the department’s X-Ray Team Lead said staff appreciated the public’s patience while replacing equipment in the hospital’s two x-ray rooms over the past year. Work included the demolition and removal of the old x-ray units as well as the installment of the new equipment.
Ms. Hellmig said the new equipment is fully automated and provides far better imaging quality and options, while greatly reducing the risk of musculoskeletal injuries for staff who, previously, had to move a number of pieces of equipment manually.
Dr. Abram Choi, Chief of Diagnostic Imaging, said the image quality output from the new machines is impressive, and the leg length views are dramatically better which is important for the Orthopaedics program.
“Overall, the processing of imaging is far better now than it was before. When the original equipment was new, digital imaging was cutting edge – we can now say our image quality is state-of-the-art,” Dr. Choi said.
“While we recognize that upgrades and renovations do impact our patients, even in a minimal way, we are thankful for their understanding and we are pleased that they will benefit from our investment in leading edge technology,” said PRH President and CEO Pierre Noel. He said the new equipment is an important part of the hospital’s efforts to bring high quality care close to home for our community.
Technologists in the department have received comprehensive training from the vendor.
