Karen McGrath, CEO of Central Health, said none of the announced healthcare spending initiatives had been fully implemented as of yet.
“There would be a combined process,” she said. “Some of the things we may have purchased already, but if it’s equipment, usually the issue is there will be a request for proposals sought, and we have to follow the government tendering act for most of our equipment. Some of it is not here, some of it is in transit, and some of it hasn’t even been ordered yet.”
Ms. McGrath said most equipment should be inside James Paton Memorial Regional Health Centre sometime in the fall, as will be the case for the first Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) unit for Central Health.
“We’re doing the renovations to this structure to accommodate the MRI unit, and we’re still on target for the fall of this year.”
With equipment being replaced, Ms. McGrath said some medical equipment may have outgrown its usefulness, while other equipment offer modernized updates on what the hospital may have previously used.
“The medication dispensing machine, for example, is a machine to replace one that has gone down. In some cases, dialysis machines have new innovations in terms of dialysis machinery.”
At Lakeside Home, $574,000 will be used for a variety of purposes. Most of the money, $450,000, will cover kitchen upgrades, with $88,500 earmarked for new dietary and laundry equipment. The remaining $35,000 will help purchase five drug carts.
“The drug carts that are going into Lakeside Homes are in fact a new way that we’re delivering drugs to individuals who live in our facility,” said Ms. McGrath.
Beyond those issues addressed in the money coming from the 2010 Budget, Ms. McGrath said funds will be necessary for renovations to the building in order to deal with the outpatient area and one other unit.
Current funding allocated for renovations at the Gander hospital is due to dry up next year, she said.
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