This is a story by Niagara Health Foundation (NHF), published on the NHF website.
Niagara Health’s Diagnostic Imaging (DI) department is a vital part of thousands of patient journeys every year, and we are excited to share that, thanks to our donors, Niagara Health is currently replacing aging X-ray machines across our local hospitals with state-of-the-art equipment. “The new devices are an amazing improvement for patients and staff members,” says Daisy Trojanowski, Regional Manager, Medical Imaging. “We can get better images using a lower dose of radiation,” she explains.
Niagara Falls Hospital Charge Technologist Liz Staten agrees and adds that the new devices are significantly more ergonomic for the team of Medical Radiation Technologists. “Techs have to do a lot of manual moving around of tubes and patients with the equipment we are replacing. With the new devices, a lot of settings can be changed at the push of a button, so in addition to being such an improvement for the patient, it also lowers the risk of injury for our techs.”
Part of the upgrades to our Welland and Niagara Falls DI departments is the addition of stitching devices, which take images of the spine for indications such as scoliosis.
"The new devices are an amazing improvement for patients and staff members." - Daisy Trojanowski
“Any patient who needed this type of imaging had to be sent to the Marotta Family Hospital in St. Catharines in the past, so we are thrilled that we can offer this type of imaging in Welland and Niagara Falls as well now.”
While removing old equipment takes only a matter of hours, renovating the rooms and installing the new equipment takes several weeks. This is why the replacements are being rolled out gradually, ensuring minimal disruption for patients requiring X-rays. While some rooms are still being renovated, both Niagara Falls and Welland Hospitals have already installed one new machine, and the training has been going very well. “The interface is very user-friendly, so training has thankfully gone smoothly,” says Trojanowski.
Another advantage of replacing this equipment across hospitals is that techs can now easily move around between sites. “When every DI department has different equipment, it means that someone who has been trained in Niagara Falls can only work here,” says Staten. “As we replace the old devices, however, it enables us to share techs across sites, which will be a great improvement and relief for our team. Having the best and most recent technology on the market will also attract new techs, which is so needed,” Staten says, adding that she is incredibly grateful for Niagara Health Foundation donors. “I want to thank you for donating to the Foundation. These replacements couldn’t happen without you. You are improving the work environment for our staff as well as patient care, and we are so grateful.”
