GE Engineers installing CT Scan machine at hospital

The long awaited X-ray computed tomography (CT) machine, populary called a CT Scan machine (pictured right), for St.Vincent and the Grenadines, is to be commissioned in the first week of July, should all things go well with its installation.{{more}}

For two days last week, two General Electric (GE) Engineers supervised the offloading of the various boxes of equipment which had been stored in the container in which they were transferred to St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

The boxes were taken an assigned room on the ground floor of the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH), where they were unpacked and accounted for by the GE professionals.

Cecil ‘Ces’ McKie, Minister of Health, in a press release issued on Tuesday, June 21, stated that a further team of three GE engineers will return to St.Vincent and the Grenadines next week to fit all items and train the local technicians how to operate the machine.

McKie noted that the local coordinating team set up to ensure the seamless installation and commissioning of the CT Scan has expressed satisfaction with the progress thus far, which included retrofitting the room at the hospital where the machine will be housed. He added that structural adjustments have been made in keeping with recommendations of the physicists who visited St.Vincent and the Grenadines two weeks ago.

McKie said the much anticipated operation of the CT Scan machine will allow over 300 Vincentians annually to access the service at home and will significantly reduce the cost to the individuals as well as the national bill.

The CT Scan machine was jointly purchased by the National Insurance Services (NIS) and the National Commercial Bank (NCB), now Bank of St.Vincent and the Grenadines, at a cost of EC$1.4 million.

Meanwhile, McKie said even as work was proceeding with the installaion of the brand new CT Scan machine, workmen from S.G. De Freitas and Company Limited were busy on the roof of the MCMH installing a new AC unit.

He is of the view that the upgrade of this AC unit will bring great comfort to staff and all users of the Lab facilities at the MCMH.

“This is in keeping with the broad objective of improving on the delivery of Primary Health Care Service to the people of St.Vincent and the Grenadines, and specifically to enhancing all aspects of operation at the country’s main health facility,” McKie stated in the release.

The rooms which will house the CT Scan machine and control panel also required the installation of four much smaller AC units.