 Drs Paige Williams and Richard Oudin and HGH Administrative Assistant Rebecca Octaviano pose in front of the CT Scan booth at Hospital Day 2025 One of the booths at this year's Hospital Day highlighted the good news that, if we are successful at securing funding, we may soon have a CT scanner on Haida Gwaii. Some of our local physicians were available to answer questions and share information. Over 100 people come by, many of whom offered to donate!
Highlighting again the need for a CT scanner, on the Hospital Day weekend alone, we had 5 people presenting to the island's hospitals who needed CT imaging in order to confirm, diagnose or manage their acute medical condition. All had to consider traveling off island to access this imaging. It is clear that having this essential diagnostic equipment on Haida Gwaii would improve the quality of care accessible to islanders. We are asking those interested in making a donation to please contact the Hospital Day Society, indicating that you wish to contribute towards the CT project. Please spread the message to your friends and neighbours!  This spring, Northern Health gave the green light for a CT scanner to be installed and operated on Haida Gwaii. By far, more than any other technology, access to local CT can improve Islanders’ health and wellbeing by allowing for time-sensitive critical diagnoses, improving the management of a wide array of health conditions. We all know friends, family and neighbours who have presented to one of our hospitals with a serious medical issue and have had to wait hours or days to get transported to Prince Rupert for a CT. Nearly all of us will require a CT scan at some point in our life, and every year, 1 in 8 of us get a CT. How will a CT help? 1. Faster diagnosis - annually, 250 people are transferred from our emergency departments to Prince Rupert for an urgent CT scan. Patients with conditions like strokes, brain bleeding, abdominal pain and trauma experience delays while awaiting transfer. Once scanned, patients with significant findings often require another transfer to a larger hospital for time sensitive and potentially life-saving procedures. A scanner here means we can treat locally or transfer to higher level care more quickly. 2. Stroke care – modern stroke care requires a CT to ensure safe use of medications that can open the blockages jn circulation that cause the stroke. People who have a stroke on Haida Gwaii receive worse care and experience greater brain damage because we don’t have a CT. 3. Reductions in unnecessary patient transfers – about 40% of transfers can be avoided if we can rule out serious conditions locally. 4. Air Ambulance access improvement - With less need for CT-related transfers, Haida Gwaii patients will experience faster transfers to the right location. 5. Patient confidence and trust – CT takes much of the guesswork out of making a diagnosis. Both patients and providers can focus on appropriate treatment and not stress over when a transfer will occur. 6. Better cancer care – CT is part of the cancer journey, from diagnosis to treatment. Most cancers require investigation with CT. Planning for biopsies and surgery requires CT for determining the extent of cancer. People with cancer can receive most of their treatments locally through Haida Gwaii Cancer Care. Many patients need CT to ensure treatments are working. A local CT means people will have their cancers diagnosed earlier and treated effectively without having to travel by ferry. 7. Health care provider retention – we need to be competitive in attracting and retaining health care professionals. Physicians are trained in an environment with CT availability. The new generation of physicians expect to have the right tools to work effectively on Haida Gwaii and not struggle with transfers and an incomplete picture of why their patients are sick. Many residents and physicians express to us that they would not work on Haida Gwaii because of the lack of CT. Unfortunately, Northern Health has no dollars to install a CT on island, with estimates ranging from $6 to $10 million for the purchase and retrofitting of the scanner into one of our hospitals. It is up to the islands to fund raise for the CT, and it will require all our efforts to do so. With Northern Health’s offer to operate a CT indefinitely, including future replacements once installed, this one-time purchase would benefit all of us now, and for future generations. We have approached the Gwaii Trust, the CHN, communities and Band Councils, and now we are reaching out to the islanders directly to enlist support and advice on how we can fund this project. Stay tuned for updates on this opportunity. - Haida Gwaii Medical Staff   |
