Staff at the Houston Health Centre are scheduled to be in possession of a new x-ray machine either late this coming winter or early in the spring of 2023.
The current one, Philips Optimus 65, went into service here in 1999 and is past its useful life.
“It’s now reached the point in its lifecycle where parts have become difficult to source, running the risk of a service issue that could result in a disruption in service at the facility,” said Northern Health Authority official Eryn Collins.
“The new unit will ensure service continuity for both primary care and urgent care needs at Houston Health Centre.”
She estimated renovations to the existing x-ray room and upgrading the existing electrical service would take eight weeks followed by training and testing once the new machine is installed.
“As we’re in the process of procurement, it is too soon to confirm the precise model of x-ray unit or its delivery date,” Collins added in outlining an in-service date of either late this coming winter or early the following spring.
Including renovations and the electrical upgrade, the replacement project budget is set at $780,000 with the North West Regional Hospital District, the regional property taxing authority for health care financing, being asked to contribute $312,000. That works out to 40 per cent of the project and the Northern Health is responsible for the remaining 60 per cent.
Northern Health as early as September 2013 forecast a replacement in 2014-2015 with a suggested cost then of $500,000.
In the meantime, other projects at the health centre have either finished or are in the works.
That list includes a new air handling unit at a cost of $866,715 to replace one that is at the end of its life and which has also lost its ability to cool air.
“The unit will need to be replaced before the cooling season begins,” a project update indicated in April just as the new unit was being shipped.
Filling potholes in the parking lot and installing a magnetic lock system with keypad, a surveillance system upgrade and a cardiac monitor are also on the list of improvements or replacements.