Windsor Regional Hospital first to get provincially funded PET/CT scanner

Windsor Regional Hospital will be the first-ever recipient of a new PET/CT scanner through funding from the provincial government.

The new equipment will be paid for by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and will support 600 patients a year.

• $100K donation saves PET-CT scanner in Windsor

The scanner will mainly serve cancer patients, but will also support cardiac and neurology patients, according to hospital CEO David Musyj. Itis expected to be fully operational in 2018.

PET, which stands forPositron Emission Tomography,uses a form of radioactive sugar to produce images.

"This is an amazing announcement for the patients we serve in the Erie St Clair LHIN and beyond," wroteMusyj in a statement following the announcement."In addition, it is always great to be first!"

The CEO explained that traditionally scanners had to be funded locally by donations or hospital operating costs, but they will now be part of the Cancer Care Ontario provincial funding process.

The scanner will be located at the Met Campus and will share a waiting room with theMRI.

"There's more and more cancers where we find that PET/CT provides a lot of good, unique important information our previous imagingcouldn'tgive us," saidDr.Sindu Kanjeekal, WRH's chief of oncology.

"It adds to all the information that we can gather about a patient, and then it directs [us to] the correct treatment," she added.

Musyj saidnews of the new state-of-the-art piece of equipment is just the start of similar announcements that will "naturally start to happen" as the hospital moves towardsetting up its acute care facility once that new location is built, the scanner will be moved there.

"By developing a long-term strategy for the PET/CT scans in the province, and through working with our health care partners, Ontario is strengthening its commitment to providing patients with high-quality care for all Ontarians including diagnostic services where early detection can save lives," stated Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care in a media release.

One other scanner in Windsor

There is currently one other scanner atPrecision Diagnostic Imaging in Windsor, but Musyj said having the same equipment at the hospital will "mitigate wait times and travel."

The ministry said Cancer Care Ontario will be leading a long-term strategy focused on providing PET/CT scanning across the province based on service needs, patient referral patternsthe age of machines and facility capacity.