The Michener Institute of Education at UHN cranes CT scanner into 11th floor
TORONTO – On Saturday, March 25, The Michener Institute of Education at UHN craned a 4,000-lb, 64-slice CT scanner from the corner of St. Patrick and Elm Streets into 222 St. Patrick Street through a window on the building’s 11th floor. The CT scanner, an Aquilion-64 unit donated by Toshiba Canada Medical Systems, is the latest piece of technology that will allow Michener students to learn the imaging protocols that are in current clinical use.
“The Aquilion-64 unit replaces an old four-slice CT scanner that had become unreliable, unserviceable and generations behind what is currently being used in clinical practice,” says Marc Potvin, Manager of Strategic Partnerships, Procurement and Analysis at The Michener Institute. “The new CT scanner means that Michener students will receive advanced, high-fidelity training on the same equipment they will encounter in the clinical setting.”
“The importance of education as a means of improving patient care is an integral value of our organization,” states Jens Dettmann, President and CEO of Toshiba Canada Medical Systems. “This investment with The Michener Institute is a testament of our respect for this organization as we align our shared visions of healthcare innovation through education.”
Radiological Technology professor Nicholas Yim adds that, “As more medical radiation sciences professions adopt CT, we will be able to provide our students with a complete skill set in CT that will provide them with an advantage for their future careers”
Because the unit couldn’t fit into the building’s service elevator, the installation was a feat of engineering that culminated in the CT scanner being delivered through the 11th floor window. Due to the alignment of the 11th floor corridors, shoring posts were required on the 10th floor, and on the 11th floor a wall was removed and modifications were made to the CT suite itself to support the more modern technology.
Michener’s newest CT scanner is the product of a solid year of negotiations between The Michener Institute and UHN, the Ontario Ministry of Health and health technology industry partners. In November, the Ministry of Health approved Michener’s request to fund the installation of a CT scanner. UHN’s Advanced Imaging Education Centre also offered access to their image reconstruction servers, which also saves Michener an estimated $200,000 in upfront costs and $20,000 in annual maintenance costs.
“This is an unexpected but great example of how the integration with UHN is benefitting our students,” says Mr. Potvin. “We have been exploring options for quite some time with a number of our technology partners, and they were all happy to help us with the equipment. It was the installation and operating costs that prevented us from moving ahead, but thanks to the Ministry and the JDMI team, we were able to break that impasse.”
“The renewal of our CT scanner would not be possible without tremendous support from Toshiba Medical and the Ontario Ministry of Health who have worked as partners with our team at Michener to make this a reality,” says Susan Weltz, Chair of Michener’s Imaging Department. “Our learners are the beneficiaries of their efforts to improve this key technology in use every day at Michener.”
About Michener
Established in 1958, The Michener Institute of Education at UHN is Canada’s only post-secondary institution devoted exclusively to health sciences education. Michener offers full-time and continuing education in Imaging, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Medical Radiation Sciences, Primary and Critical Care and other specialized applied health programs. With a robust and responsive curriculum that emphasizes inter-professional collaboration and simulation-based training, graduates are prepared to deliver quality diagnostic and therapeutic services. Michener is publicly funded by the Ministry of Health and further enriched through partnerships with universities, private sector companies and leading health care organizations. For more information, visit us at michener.ca.
Contact:
Brianne Tulk
Communications Associate, The Michener Institute of Education at UHN
416-596-3101 ext. 3482
btulk@michener.ca
