Media release

The Hawkesbury & District General Hospital (HGH) Foundation launched today a new major campaign called ACCESS 2018: For our health and our future. This campaign will help provide the hospital with two pieces of state-of-the-art equipment, a CT scanner and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.

By the end of the redevelopment project in 2018, the hospital will have doubled in size and will be able to accommodate these two new pieces of equipment that will expand and update the HGH’s diagnostic imaging department. The campaign objective is 4 million dollars.

MRI is a non-invasive, safe test used to identify tumours, cancers, internal bleeding, muscle and joint injuries, strokes, diseases of the heart, lungs and blood vessels and aneurysms. It can replace more invasive procedures and reveal problems earlier than other tests. After its anticipated installation in late 2018, it is predicted that more than 5,000 MRI tests will be completed in the first year, and demand will continue to grow annually.

HGH currently has a 16-slice CT scanner, which is used for more than 7,000 scans annually. The demand continues to grow each year; therefore, a new scanner would ensure the hospital is able to meet that growing need. The new CT scanner will become a vital part of providing more accurate and detailed medical imaging to ensure fast results and quicker diagnosis and treatment for patients. This sophisticated machine takes more images in order to provide a detailed 3D cross-sectional image. This will enable the diagnosis of strokes and internal trauma in a matter of minutes. This will save lives.

Every resident of the Prescott-Russell region will benefit from the redevelopment of the hospital. Among many improvements, there will be 31 additional patient beds, a 20% increase in physicians and hospital staff and 2 new surgical suites that will more than double the annual number of procedures. The emergency department will also increase its capacity by 3,500 visits.

Quote
Dr. Jean Fairfield, Campaign President and former HGH Chief of Staff
“Right now, patients go on a long waiting list for MRI that is located an hour or more away. In addition, the new CT Scan is a step to improving the quality of images. Once we have improved diagnostic imaging services at HGH, tests will be done quickly, closer to home. It will be better.” Dr. Jean Fairfield

Contact
Pierre-Luc Byham
Executive Director
Hawkesbury & District General Hospital Foundation
plbyham@hgh.ca
101-175 Main Street West
Hawkesbury, ON K6A 2H3
Tel.: 613-632-1111, ext. 21100