New x-ray facility at Perth hospital

Heart and Bones. Feeling positive about negatives: From left, Dr. Nimish Parikh, Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital CEO and president Linda Bisonette, x-ray room manager Pat Warren, Richard Schooley, vice chair of the hospital foundation board, and Dr. Robert Chaplin, chair of the Great War Memorial Hospital Foundation, help cut the ribbon for the new diagnostic imaging room at the Great War Memorial Hospital site in Perth. Desmond Devoy

PERTH - It’s all about transparency these days at the digital diagnostic imaging department at the Great War Memorial hospital.

In fact, when it comes to x-rays, that’s the whole point.

Indeed, when someone looks through you, it’s usually rude, but when medical radiation technologists Janis Sullivan and Ashley Henry look through you, it’s part of their job – and they’ve got good manners to boot.

Now, patient x-rays at the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital are more see-through than ever before thanks to new, state-of-the-art, $500,000, digital diagnostic imaging equipment, which was unveiled on Wednesday, Feb. 13. The purchase of the General Electric equipment, which replaced existing 20-year-old x-ray machines, was made possible through the hard work and fundraising of the hospital foundation.

“We have had a lot of attention to our hospital in the last little while,” said Richard Schooley, vice chair of the hospital foundation board. “This (is a) significant reinvestment in our community.”

Schooley added that the new equipment sent a strong message to the community – “We will not let you down.”

“It’s really exciting here to open this room,” said Linda Bisonette, the hospital’s president and chief executive officer, before commending the foundation’s hard work. “Your many contributions in the form of equipment, patient care and support to staff and physicians cannot be replicated in any hospital in the province.”

Staff were already itching to start using the machine – as were sick patients waiting to see what was going on in their bodies.

“It will be well used and the staff will look forward to using it,” said Dr. Robert Chaplin, chair of the Great War Memorial Hospital Foundation, who noted that the money raised in the community stayed in the community.

“It’s very exciting to have this room,” said x-ray manager Pat Warren. “We are very excited.”

Visitors were taken on a tour of the room, which has been given a complete makeover – new floor, new ceiling, new paint. As for the equipment itself, the x-ray table can now be lowered closer to the floor to help accommodate patients who have difficulty transferring from a stretcher. The room has also been equipped with wireless technology throughout.

“The longest part (now) is doing our processing at the back,” said Sullivan.

The doctors also appreciate the new images they are seeing.

“It does make my job a lot more easier than it used to be,” said Dr. Nimish Parikh. “I love working with it. The images are pristine.”