STORY about Health posted on October 20, 2010 by Michael
Castlegar community rallies against the removal of ultrasound machine from their hospital
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On October 4th, Castlegar District Hospital Foundation was informed that the Interior Health Authority planned to remove the ultrasound machine from the Castlegar Health Centre and relocate it to the neighbouring community of Trail. Critics of the announcement maintain that there was no community - based consultation on this planned move. However, the I.H.A. state the Medical Advisor Committee was consulted. The move was scheduled for October 28th, 2010.
At present, the ultrasound is used for two days a week with a technician coming from Trail. According to the local Regional Diagnostic Imaging Director there were 1,200 ultrasounds done at the Castlegar Health Centre last year. Removing this ultrasound unit from Castlegar would mean that these 1,200 patients will have to find transportation to Trail for their tests. There is no convenient public transportation from Castlegar to Trail. Hence these patients will have to find their own transportation. Also, the reimbursement policy and procedure for those who can not pay for travel is unclear.
On October 20th, a rally and march were held by the community of Castlegar to oppose the decision to relocate the ultrasound machine. The machine was originally purchased partly with money that was raised by the Castlegar community during the "Light Up" campaign.
It is estimated that roughly 300 people attended the march and rally, a number organizers stated they were pleased with.
The same afternoon before the rally took place, I.H.A announced it would suspend the ultrasound removal. The announcement was attributed by many to the organizing and mobilization efforts by the Castlegar community. However, organizers cautioned that the community of Castlegar may have temporarily won the battle, but the fight is not over.
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Comments
re:
Thanks for sharing this informative articles. Ultrasound has been used in a variety of clinical settings, including obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology and cancer detection. The main advantage of ultrasound is that certain structures can be observed without using radiation. Ultrasound can also be done much faster than X-rays or other radiographic techniques. Here are some articles I found about the <a href="http://www.pptse.net/ppt/ultrasound/">uses and advantages of ultrasound</a>. Check this at pptse.net.