General & Marine Hospital
Council Briefed On Strategic Plan
Collingwood's General and Marine Hospital officials are considering a plan to expand
Emergency Room Busy
Over The Holdays
Collingwood Council heard from officials of the General and Marine Hospital on Monday January 7th. President and CEO, Linda Davis and Dr. Don Smith appeared before council to present a strategic plan designed to improve services offered by the hospital. Davis told Council that Emergency Room wait times can be long. The Holiday Season brought with it the usual heavy load of visitors with various injuries, many associated with skiing and snowboarding. At times, it was standing room only in the overcrowded Emergency Room. The Collingwood Hospital is not only required to serve the needs of a growing community, but is called upon to serve the needs of hundreds of visitors to the region. As tourism numbers continue to grow, so will the need for Emergency Room services at the Collingwood Hospital.
Davis told council that waiting times won't improve until the hospital can expand. She said expansion discussions have included the possibility of constructing a new hospital wing. Davis has been travelling throughout the region, visiting with councils to discuss the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital's strategic plan.
While talks of expansion continue, no concrete plans are complete at this time.
G&M Hospital Nuclear Medicine Camera Improves Diagnosis
Since the installation of a new nuclear medicine camera in June, the demand has been high for a wide variety of diagnostic procedures. Nuclear scans are most commonly used for bone scans which look for metabolic diseases that cannot be detected through conventional x-rays. This technology is also integral to the diagnosis of prostate and breast cancers as well as thyroid, gall bladder and liver disease. Phil Watson, nuclear medicine technologist, is thrilled by the new technology now available to his patients. "The process uses state of the art computer technology that people would have to travel to Barrie or Owen Sound for if we did not have this camer at the G&M" Watson said. The cost of the new camera was $285,000. Having raised almost $150,000 through special events and individual gifts in 2007, the Foundation hopes to provide the balance of the nuclear medicine camera funding to the Hospital through support of the Tree of Life Campaign.
Update On Dialysis Water Treatment System
In 2006, funds raised through the Tree of Life Campaign were designated to the purchase of a new water treatment system for the General and Marine Hospital's Dialysis Unit. The new system arrived in the Spring but installation was delayed due to space issues in the Dialysis Unit. New basement space is now available and the installation of the new system will now take place. Once the new system is installed, the old water treatment system will be removed from the Dialysis Unit, allowing for space to be freed up for storage and the installationof a sixth dialysis station to increase the treatment capacity.
