The Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation is calling on the community to help support its efforts to raise funds for the purchase of a new General Purpose (GP) Radiographic X-Ray.
There is an urgent and increased need for medical imaging at Eagle Ridge Hospital due to the recently opened, new emergency department.
Roughly 80% of patients who come through the Eagle Ridge Hospital ER will require medical imaging in some form or another throughout the course of their diagnosis and treatment – whether is a CT scan, x-ray, or an ultrasound.
“With the opening of the renovated emergency department in late July, we tripled our capacity for patient intake,” Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation executive director Judy Zhu says.
“We increased our treatment spaces, and that increase of patient flow directly impacts the demand for medical imaging.”
Medical imaging tools help physicians understand what is happening internally for patients, whether it’s to examine a head injury, a broken bone, or something else.
“The only way for doctors to find out what’s going on inside is through medical imaging,” Zhu says.
The hospital's existing GP radiographic x-ray is over 20 years old and while it is computerized, it is not digital.
Having a new digital machine would offer quick, instant imaging, which would allow for a higher volume of patients to be seen and cut down on wait times by an average of 10 minutes per imaging session.
A newer machine would also have the added benefit of lower radiation levels than the current machine, and would offer a wider range of capability for different types of medical images.
Speeding up treatment and expanding diagnostic capability is crucial for Eagle Ridge Hospital, which is the only hospital in the Tri-Cities.
“If you have an emergency medical situation or require urgent care, your first stop is Eagle Ridge. While you're there, you probably want the quickest diagnosis that you possibly can receive,” Zhu says.
“With both of those machines going, there is less likelihood that you will have to be rerouted to a different hospital. For the elderly and those with mobility issues that will make a huge difference in the course of their treatment.”
The population of the Tri-Cities is one of the fastest growing in the Lower Mainland, with new developments being built all the time. Eagle Ridge Hospital’s aim is to provide the best care possible while ensuring its community members can stay close to home.
“If you do have a medical emergency in the Tri-Cities, chances are very high Eagle Ridge will receive you,” Zhu says.
“We want to keep you in the community and we want to keep you close while giving you the proper care you need.”
To help provide life-saving care in your community today, visit https://erhf.ca to make a donation now.
