June 10, 2016
The Drayton Valley Health Care Auxiliary proudly holds up their donation cheque for $300,000, representing half of the proceeds given to the Drayton Valley Health Services Foundation toward the purchase of a CT scanner. The photo was taken on the grounds of the Drayton Valley Health Centre where the CT scanner will be housed
Story by Kerri Robins; photo courtesy Drayton Valley Western Review
DRAYTON VALLEY — How time flies when you’re raising millions of dollars. For the Drayton Valley Health Services Foundation, May 2014 still feels like yesterday — but that’s when they launched their CT4DV campaign to raise $1.8 million for a CT scanner for the Drayton Valley Health Centre.
Already, they’re almost there — having brought in an impressive $1.4 million to date.
“We’ve got about $400,000 left to raise and I can’t give enough thanks to our community for their donations to date,” says foundation chair Michelle Koebernick.
About $600,000 of the $1.4 million on hand has come through the Health Care Auxiliary at the health centre over the last two years.
Lyle Grant, Area Manager of the Drayton Valley Hospital and Care Centre, says the community is blessed to have such an organization right in town, and given it’s all volunteer, the support is phenomenal.
“CT scanners provide a lot of information for us and having a scanner on site will help us give our patients not only the best care possible, but also specific care, especially in the incident of stroke,” says Grant.
The CT scanner plays a pivotal role in acute stroke treatment.
“More than 80 per cent of strokes result from blood clots and early diagnosis and treatment is key,” adds Grant.
“The CT scanner is the critical piece in identifying the type of stroke so that clot-busting treatments can be started right away if required. We know that rapid diagnosis and treatment substantially improves outcomes for patients.”
CT stands for computed tomography , and it’s an indispensable piece of medical-imaging equipment for doctors who have to diagnose patients quickly.
“The scanner is also great tool in emergency situations,” says Grant, “allowing us to diagnose some injuries quickly and accurately. Some trauma patients will benefit from having a CT scan done while waiting for transport out of Drayton Valley for more specialized care.”
This greatly reduces any time delay in getting into the operating room upon arrival at a larger hospital, because staff can assemble and be waiting with the scan information in hand, rather than performing the scan when the patient arrives and losing critical minutes.”
On average, 100 patients a year are transported from Drayton Valley by ambulance for CT scans to Wetaskiwin, Edmonton or Red Deer. Grant estimates that about 1,000 scans a year are for patients originating from the Drayton Valley area.
CT Scanners can also help to identify traumatic injuries involving the head, chest, abdomen and pelvis as well as cancer growth through its detailed 3D images.
An essential diagnostic tool, a CT scan only takes about 10 minutes, with results for doctors and patients in less than two hours.
A volunteer herself for 16 years, Doreen Beckett has been president of the Health Care Auxiliary for four years, overseeing both a thrift store in Drayton Valley and the health centre gift shop. Both businesses donate sale proceeds to the health centre through the auxiliary.
“Our volunteers work hard and it’s not an easy job, especially at the thrift shop,” says the 56-year-old. “They do a lot of heavy lifting, standing and sorting items for long periods of time — a pretty amazing feat when you consider the average age of our volunteers is 70 years old.”
Beckett says she has nothing but praise for the 54 volunteers who serve both locations.
“I know I speak for all the volunteers when I say we do it because we want to contribute to our health care and, more importantly, help our community.”
For information, please visit dvhealthfound.ca
