Not that there was really any doubt, but the Estevan Health Committee's investment in an ultrasound machine for St. Joseph's Hospital is proving to be a wise one.
Since it went into service in September, the machine has been serving 20 patients a week and appointments are already being made a month in advance.
An official unveiling of the machine was held Thursday at the hospital as members of the committee presented a cheque for $160,000 to Greg Hoffort, the executive director of St. Joe's.
The committee, which is comprised of officials from the RM of Estevan and the City of Estevan, made the ultrasound purchase as part of their overall goal of attracting more doctors to Estevan and improving the services offered at St. Joe's.
"It's just another perk that we can offer the physicians that our community has that maybe some others don't," Hoffort said. "Whether we like it or not, it is a terribly competitive environment to attract physicians here. We are competing with other communities across the province and the country. The fact that we have ultrasound service does give us a step.
"Further to that, when the health committee met with the physicians early on in the process, they did identify that as an impediment so, absolutely, it is a recruitment tool."
As much as the ultrasound will be a recruitment tool for doctors, Hoffort said they are equally pleased about being able to offer the service to local residents who have been forced to travel to Regina, Weyburn or Moose Jaw.
"It's a tremendous benefit for the community," Hoffort said. "We have the facilities; now we have another service that we can provide here for the residents that they don't have to go somewhere else for."
Hoffort said at this time there are no plans to expand the service beyond the two days a week they currently can offer through their arrangement with the Sun Country Health Region, but the situation is being monitored.
As for the future, Hoffort said they will continue to look at ways of improving and adding to the services offered at the hospital, noting that through the hospital's foundation, there is a wish list of equipment that they would like to purchase or update.
"We would like to progress to continue to provide more service all the time. Whether that leads us to the provision of CT scan services, we'll just see where it goes from there. There would be a lot of hurdles before we even get too deep into the discussions on (a CT scan) but that is another issue that has been identified by the community and the physicians."
