People on the west coast disheartened by the news that the new Corner Brook Hospital will open without a PET scanner are rallying today.
Space has been set aside for the imaging device, but that doesn’t mean there will be one. National recommendations suggest one scanner for every 2-million people and this province already has one for its 500,000 residents.
PET scans are a type of imaging test that doctors can use to check for certain types of diseases and as well as tissue and organ function.
Health Minister John Haggie told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly on Friday that the one in St. John’s is currently operating at less than capacity. He says they would proceed with a scanner for Corner Brook only if oncologists required one, but that would be several years off.
Signs ready to go!
Pet scanner rally on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021 at 12:30pm. Meet at Margaret Bowater Park, then walk to the Sir Richard Squires Building!#FightingForYou#CornerBrook pic.twitter.com/86ijiGFcmj
— Graham Downey-Sutton (@gdowneysutton1) January 10, 2021
Protester Graham Sutton Downey says that’s unacceptable.
Over a dozen residents gathered at Margaret Bowater Park over the lunch hour before taking their rally to the Sir Richard Squires Building.
Pleasure to talk to many of the 14 people who came out today in #CornerBrook to talk about the PET Scanner our new hospital is getting. Many were there from political camps but some were there with good questions in mind. I think they really appreciated my chat with them! pic.twitter.com/PleUJ4Eoyl
— Gerry Byrne (@Gerry_Byrne) January 11, 2021
