Newfoundland is getting new PET/CT scanners. Gerry Byrne says they'll lower wait times

The Newfoundland and Labrador government is adding new PET/CTscanners to hospitals in St. John's and Corner Brook to improve care for cancer, cardiac disease and stroke patients.

They'll land at theHealth Sciences Centre andWestern Memorial Regional Hospital to compliment the one already inSt. John's andreduce wait times for patients, Corner Brook MHAGerry Byrne said Friday.

"This PET scanner is very important. It is part of a commitment that we made," Byrne said.

Byrne said the scanners have not been bought yet, but theyshould cost about $4 million each.At least one of thenew scanners should be in placein St. John's by early next year, said Byrne, adding staff recruitment isunderway.

There's been $2 million held in a trust to buy the scanner for Corner Brook since 2021.

"This is really an anticipation of a high case load in the future, but we're taking actions right now," said Byrne.

Increased capacity

Dr. Jeffery Flemming, clinical lead for nuclear medicine with Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, said the addition of the new machines is for healthcare moving forward.

"We look at patient numbers, wait times. New programs are coming through in nuclear medicine all the time," he said. "This all requires more capacity [and] more capacity. And you can try to do as much as you can with the one scanner you have.Eventually you need to improve your capacity."

Flemming said work still needs to be done involvinglicensing from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commissionsince using the scanners involves usingnuclear isotopes. He said those isotopes would likely be created in St. John's via a cyclotronand transported to Corner Brook routinely.

However, Flemming said, that licensing process could take two years, meaning a scanner won't beused in Corner Brook until that is completed.

A PET/CTscanner was first promised to Corner Brook in 2014 by then Liberal premier Dwight Ball.

In January 2021, then Health minister John Haggie told reporters a second PET-CT scanner wasn't necessaryon account of only needinga handful of scans per day. He said a scanner would only ever be installed elsewhereif there was unmet demand that couldn't be handled in St. John's.

Shortly after, advocates for the Western Memorial Regional Hospital spoke out, saying Haggie had broken a government promise.

Haggie called it a"gesture to restore the trust and confidence of the people on the west coast."

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