Maldi-tof

Published in 2013

Lab equipment at Kelowna General Hospital could save your life.
Thanks to generous support by The Colin & Lois Pritchard Foundation and their partnership with the Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District

A patient arrives in the emergency room at Kelowna General Hospital presenting with a high fever and low blood pressure. Doctors suspect a bloodstream infection and admit him to intensive care for close monitoring. He is immediately started on a general antibiotic; a targeted antibiotic treatment cannot be administered until the specific infection is confirmed.

Previously, the specific bacteria identification would have taken one to three days to process and the patient may have become extremely ill.  Now, with the recent acquisition of the MALDI-TOF, a mass spectrophotometer that uses lasers to provide extremely rapid and accurate testing, critical information can be in the hands of physicians within an hour. The significant reduction in processing time will improve patient care and saves lives.

In addition to saving time and lives, the MALDI-TOF also substantially reduces cost. The typical cost of identification was over ten dollars; now it is less than one dollar. The MALDI-TOF also prevents antimicrobial resistance by allowing physicians to more effectively target antibiotic therapy. Resistant superbugs are eliminated and good antibiotic stewardship is achieved.

This state-of-the-art new technology is only possible due to the generous support of The Colin & Lois Pritchard Foundation through the KGH Foundation and its partnership with the Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District.

“We are dedicated to supporting medical innovation,” says Colin Pritchard. “Our Foundation has recently supported TeleHealth at KGH so patients throughout the BC’s Interior can benefit from the expertise at the hospital without the demands of travel. We have also supported a Patient Simulation Lab within UBCO’s Southern Medical Program where medical students learn from replicated medical scenarios giving them the opportunity to gain hands-on training experience. The new MALDI-TOF technology represents our continued support of health care advancement in our growing region.”

“This was an opportunity for the Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District to partner with a donor through the KGH Foundation to purchase this state-of-the-art equipment.” says Robert Hobson, Chair Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District.

The MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometer was one of the critical equipment components outlined in the past Be a Lifesaver Capital Campaign.