Auxiliaries Gift New CT Scanner
From 2017
Emergency medical staff at Kelowna General Hospital are now able to save valuable time in assessing and treating critically ill or injured emergency patients, thanks to the generosity of hundreds of volunteers who donate their time to serve their local hospitals.
The new Flash CT Scanner arrived at KGH last week and is considered to be one of the best CT Scanners available on the market today. The leading edge technology allows medical staff to rapidly image their patients more efficiently than ever. The new scanner has been dedicated exclusively for use in KGH’s Emergency Department, advancing the care teams ability to treat emergent patients with more efficiency than ever before.
“When every moment counts, having access to the CT Scanner right in the Emergency Department can be the difference that saves a person’s life,” says Joey Ruffell, Section Head for KGH Imaging. “Patients currently travel to the main diagnostic imaging department which can take up to two minutes. Now they can stay much closer to the Emergency physicians and nurses who are treating them.”
“The new CT Scanner is a very important acquisition for our hospital in commitment to advance overall patient care,” says Andrew Hughes, Acute Health Service Administrator at KGH. “Not only does it allow us to image critical patients sooner and more safely, there is less demand for the two other CT Scanners we currently have at KGH.”
The acquisition of the new CT Scanner was made possible through the generosity of the hundreds of volunteers who assist the Kelowna, Rutland, Peachland and Winfield Auxiliaries. The hospital Auxiliaries are vital to supporting the hospital and operate on the generosity of these volunteers.
In 2015, all four Auxiliaries joined forces and committed to purchasing the $1.9million CT Scanner. The funds were generated solely from the net proceeds raised through KGH business ventures, catering operations in Peachland and Winfield and the Rutland Thrift Store.
“As this incredible gift shows, the commitment of our volunteers is absolutely invaluable to our community,” says KGH Foundation Business Enterprise Manager, Nancy Wells, who works closely with the Auxiliaries. “Every dollar given was made serving the community. I’m so very proud to work with them.”
“We are so thankful for the hard work and the generosity that brought KGH its third CT Scanner,” says Ruffell. “Now, we are better able to help our patients at the time of the greatest need.”