Steinbach's Bethesda Hospital is getting a new CT scanner. Chief Executive Officer John Stinson says the hospital had been on the waiting list for about a year and calls it "fabulous news."

Stinson says the CT scanner there today is around ten years old and is reaching the end of its life. "It's still safe, it's still doing its job," assures Stinson. "But of course we'll get an upgraded one that is even lower dose in radiation which is always good." Stinson adds the new machine will produce better quality images and that's always good news.

The CT scanner costs about $1.6 million according to Stinson. He notes it's a little bigger than their existing one and requires a little more power. "We have to do some renovations. It's not major because we have a CT scanner already so we'll be able to put it in the same place. But altogether it will be around two million dollars with the renovations to the space as well."

Stinson says the costs will be covered by Diagnostic Services of Manitoba. He notes government decided several years ago that DSM would manage the diagnostic component of its system. "They're our partner, their staff work within our facility and their manager oversees things and it's technically their equipment but of course the work is happening in our hospital."

Stinson says the CT scanner at Bethesda is a busy machine. "We do lots of CT scans. We actually have a really short waiting list in comparisson to other parts of the province so we're in good shape and we're putting people through there all the time." Stinson notes their wait time right now is between one and two weeks and the machine does about 3000 scans per year.

A date has not been announced for delivery of the machine.