February 22, 2022

You’re a Real Life Saver: Thank You for Helping to Bring a CT Scanner to our Emergency Department!

Dr. Colm Boylan, Chief of Diagnostic Imaging, and Dr. Greg Rutledge, Chief of Emergency Medicine, share how generous gifts from our community will help bring a much-needed CT scanner to  St. Joe’s busy Emergency Department.

This holiday season, nearly 1,000 people (including 155 first-time donors) made a gift to our annual holiday appeal to help our Hospital build a new home for a CT scanner in our Emergency Department.

These gifts, paired with donations from a small group of passionate supporters, means we’ve raised a total of $578,229 for the CT suite project to date, and we couldn’t be more grateful to all of those who contributed to this campaign. This also means we’re more than 30 per cent of the way to our estimated goal to construct a CT suite inside our Emergency Department.
Plus, we posted the countless notes of gratitude we also received in response to our holiday appeal in the Emergency Department staff area of our Hospital to bolster the spirits of our care teams (we like to think of them as Life Savers, too).

In the Words of our Healthcare Workers

As seen and heard in local media, Dr. Greg Rutledge, Chief of Emergency Medicine, and Dr. Colm Boylan, Chief of Diagnostic Imaging, share why gifts from our community to build the CT suite are essential to the care St. Joe’s provides.

Speeding Up Access to CT Scans, when Every Second Counts

“An additional scanner would really increase our ability to get answers quicker.”

A new CT suite will help patients in our emergency rooms to get the answers they need, sooner. Right now, patients who need an emergency CT scan are transported to Diagnostic Imaging, then returned to Emergency to await results. A CT suite inside Emergency means faster, accurate diagnoses for patients when every second counts.

Shortening Wait Times Across the Hospital

“Our team has been working 24/7 for many months trying to catch up.”

A new CT suite will bring the number of St. Joe’s CT scanners to a total of three, helping tackle a backlog of non-urgent diagnostic imaging appointments put on hold during the pandemic’s peaks. Even though the CT scanner will be housed in Emergency, it will also provide scans for patients in our Cancer, Urology, Kidney, Dialysis, Chest and Lung departments.

Enhancing Patient Flow & Capacity for Care

“Anything we can do to save minutes to hours of bed time will make a big difference.”

A new CT suite will speed up admissions for patients needing treatment, like surgery, as well as help with faster discharges for those who don’t. This will create more time and space to care for more people in need while also addressing a growing concern in our community – ambulance offloading delays. Emergency teams will be able to care for incoming ambulance patients sooner, freeing up paramedics to respond to other life-threatening emergencies across our city.

Looking Ahead

While CT suites are the gold standard in emergency room care, the cost of building a space for our new CT scanner isn’t covered by the province. Over the next few months, we’ll continue working with our community to raise the remainder of funds needed for this vital project. To help bring a CT suite to St. Joe’s Emergency Department, visit: stjoesfoundation.ca/CTSuite.