Damaged X-Ray machine, CT scanner to be replaced in March: Interior Health

KAMLOOPS — Inside the medical imaging department at Royal Inland Hospital is a clear construction site, where repairs are being made to rooms that were once occupied by an X-Ray machine and CT scanner.

Both were damaged beyond repair during a flood caused by a broken water pipe over the holidays.

“The one CT scanner and the one X-Ray room are not repairable. Both of those have been ordered — a replacement CT and a replacement X-Ray,” said Interior Health’s medical imaging director for Thompson-Cariboo Kim Perris.

Perris says CT scanners cost between $1.5 and $2 million, while an X-Ray machine goes for about $400,000. An insurance claim has been put in, but for now the hospital is trying to get them online as quick as possible.

“We’re expecting delivery in early March and then installation usually takes a couple of weeks, then there will be a little training for the technologists,” she said. “The expectation is near the end of March we should be up and running again.”

When the flood happened, RIH explored the option of bringing in a mobile X-Ray machine, but Perris says it’s not as easy as “plug and play” and the hospital decided against it. The unexpected disaster has forced RIH to have to re-book some patients.

Making the situation even worse is the fact the Aberdeen Ultrasound & X-Ray clinic is without an X-Ray machine for at least the next three weeks, as a digital one is installed.

At RIH, there are two operational X-Ray machines — one of which was compromised during the flooding — and one CT scanner, but the hospital is encouraging people to go elsewhere for more urgent scans.

“We do have less capacity with less machines working, so people who are willing and able can go to Salmon Arm or Vernon Jubilee Hospital to get some of the scans done,” said RIH interim executive director Gerry Desilets. “We’re trying to use our other resources within Interior Health to support that. Any urgent tests or stuff that needs to be done quickly, we can still do on-site.”

Interior Health says it tries to keep wait lists around six months for scans, but says the flooding will stretch those out.

“We know this is stressful for everybody. We’re really doing our best. I just thank the patients, thank our practitioners and the staff as we’re going through this difficult time,” noted Perris. “We will get to the end of it and just thanks for giving us the time to get things back up and running.”