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CHC’s CT scan machine down for 3 weeks now
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Posted on Apr 23 2008
The Commonwealth Health Clinic has been without a CAT Scan for the past three weeks.
According to Department of Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez, the island’s single CT Scan “has been down for the past three weeks because of a burnt-out bulb that we had to order from the U.S.”
Villagomez said the bulb has already arrived but then the hospital found out that a motor was down and needed to be replaced.
“The latest word from our vendor is that the motor is en route from Honolulu and should be here either tomorrow or Friday,” Villagomez said.
A CT scan uses x-rays to take pictures of an individual’s skull and brain. The patient lies in a tunnel-like machine. The inside of the machine rotates and takes x-rays of the head from different angles, which are later used by computers to make an image of a cross-section of the brain.
The CT Scan is an essential medical equipment as it usually serves as one of the first tests done in stroke evaluation—particularly during an acute stroke—in an emergency room.
This test can show areas of abnormalities in the brain, and can help to determine if these areas are caused by insufficient blood flow, a ruptured blood vessel, or a different kind of a problem.
Villagomez said that the delay was not due to payment “but rather because of the distance from where we had to order the parts.”
