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Pomerene's new scanner offers speed, clarity [Daily Record, The (Wooster, OH)](Daily Record, The (Wooster, OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MILLERSBURG -- The new CT scanner at Pomerene Hospital is up and running and is doing as well as advertised, according to Director of Outpatient Services Teresa Balder. Balder made a presentation to the Pomerene Hospital Board of Directors at Thursday's monthly meeting. She explained that the hospital went from a 16-slice scanner to an 80-slice scanner, which is a top-of-the-line machine. "We have the capability with the software on the system to reduce the noise on the image, but still not lose any detail," Balder said. "We can reduce dose from 50 to 75 percent for patients. It does this individually by each exam we do. It is a really great thing we can offer now." The dose alert and dose watch let the staff know if they are dealing with a patient that is over a dose range. With work flow, there were some challenges with the old scanner. "With the small number of slices we did, often when we were doing a CT, we could be accumulating 1,500 to 2,000 images while doing a scan, and then we have to reconstruct all those images and that takes time," Balder said. "With the new scanner, we did a CT of a chest yesterday and it scanned in four seconds. By the time the patient was walking out the hall past my office, the reconstruction was done." She also said the larger bore is about six centimeters bigger than the previous one. "For those patients that might be claustrophobic, the larger bore will help," Balder said. "plus we have a larger footprint, so it is a win every way that you look at it." She says the staff has adjusted to the new scanner very well and they are catching on very quickly. Starting in October, the radiology department plans to go to five days a week for expanded MRI service during the days and in the evenings. "We are going to cross train our staff in radiology, the people on our staff who are well experienced technologists in CT," she said. "They tend to catch on very well with MRIs." Balder also pointed out that the sleep lab has added home sleep studies."We did our first patient last week with the home sleep study," she said. "They get the unit here, go home and sleep and return the unit and we upload all the data and information. Dr. Latouf, who is already providing interpretation for the in-labs, will continue to provide interpretation for the at-home. We're excited to be able to offer that service." Chief Financial Officer Jason Justus informed the board of the 2014 Capital Budget Summary, giving an update of the capital projects. The following have been completed: The new CT Scanner, Nurse Call System, central monitors, a respiratory ventilator, a surgical/ortho table, CPSI system upgrade, transportation and an automatic transfer switch. Justus reported that he is also in the process of putting the 2015 Capital Budget together. Donald Jones, the Compliance/Risk/Privacy Officer at Pomerene presented the board with a Hazard Vulnerability Analysis. The HVA committee, which consists of four community members, met to analyze potential risks internally and in the community that could impact the hospital's ability to care for patients. The risks are then broken down into four categories, including natural occurring events, technologic events, human related events and hazard materials events. The top six threats, based on ranking include tornado, mass casualty, wind, ice storm, epidemic and HVAC failure. Because of the possibility of these events occurring, Pomerene conducts multiple disaster drills each year. Employees also go through annual training and education on how to handle high risk situations that may occur. The hospital works with outside agencies such as MECOP, EMA, the Health Department and fire departments to prepare for such emergencies. Reporter Kevin Lynch can be reached at 330-674-5676 or klynchthe- daily-record.com. (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |