Local residents requiring a bone scan or other nuclear medicine services at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) will have to go to other hospitals in the region for the next six months.
It's a bit of temporary pain for long-term gain at OSMH, officials say.
To make way for the much-needed, highly-anticipated new $1.2-million CT Scanner, the diagnostic imaging department at the hospital is being physically rearranged.
“In order to accommodate this change, and to position the new CT Scanner closer to the emergency department, the new CT Scanner is being installed in the area of the hospital currently occupied by nuclear medicine,” says Terry Dyni, director of community relations at OSMH.
As a result, the hospital has placed nuclear medicine services - including bone scans - on “down-time” until Sept. 1.
Dyni said bone scans comprise “the bulk of our workload” in the nuclear medicine department.
“These scans are used to detect cancer spread to the bones,” said Dyni.
“The typical patient comes to the hospital and is injected with a radioactive isotope. This isotope travels throughout the body. The system is then used to take pictures of where the isotope has travelled,” Dyni explained.
“The isotope images are overlaid onto standard x-ray images to give the radiologist a clear picture.
“We are uninstalling the scanner and won’t be able to perform any of these services during the construction,” said Dyni.
He said there will be no staff cutbacks.
“From a staff perspective, we are taking the opportunity to enhance our team’s skill set through training opportunities,” he explained.
“Staff are not impacted and will acquire new imaging skills making them better able to meet the demands of our patients.”
He said patients requiring nuclear medicine services will be able to receive them at “partner hospitals in Barrie or Muskoka during this down time.”
Prior to the shutdown, nuclear medicine services operated three days per week at OSMH.
Dyni said the new CT Scanner is expected to arrive this summer and be operational by the fall.
“OSMH is excited to be bringing a new CT Scanner online later this year, part of a $2.2 M project (includes planning, equipment, renovation and installation costs) that has been funded by generous community donations to the OSMH Foundation,” said Dyni.
He said the new state-of-the-art $1.2-million CT Scanner is a “significant upgrade on the current CT Scanner, and will provide enhanced image quality and faster turnaround times.”
The current CT scanner will be operational until the new one is ready.
“Key to this plan is that CT services at OSMH will continue to be provided uninterrupted (24/7) during the downtime to accommodate all urgent and scheduled activity,” said Dyni.
When the new CT Scanner is operational later this year, nuclear medicine services will be reactivated at OSMH in the area of the hospital where the current CT scanner is located, Dyni explained.
