New technologist joins radiology unit 

The X-ray department at the Kateri Memorial Hospital (KMHC) is now open five days  a week, thanks to the recent hire of a full-time medical imaging technologist. 

The department that opened in the summer of 2023 has long struggled to maintain a consistent full-time service due to staffing struggles. Back in July it was down to just one technologist, after one left the department to work in another province.

“We're working on strengthening our human resources in medical imaging for the purposes of maintaining consistency,” said Dr. Rachael Eniojukan, who oversees staffing at the hospital. 

The department has been operating full time for nearly a month now, following the hiring of Brittney Giguere. She spent the last eight years working as a medical imaging technologist at the Jewish General Hospital in downtown Montreal. 

“I'm very thankful for my time there. I learned a lot, but working here, I see a whole other beautiful world, and I'm definitely here to stay,” said Gigeure. “I love it here.” 

This week the KMHC also announced it’ll soon be upgrading its medical imaging machine. They’ve yet to buy any new tech, Eniojukan said, who added they’re still in research mode right now.

“We're currently evaluating the options that are at hand, and as we get more information, we'll be sharing that information with the community,” she said. 

There will be a short interruption in service during the installation of the new imaging machine, she said.

The machine currently being used by the department was purchased back in 2018. It’s a cassette receptor mode X-ray system – surrounding hospitals tend to use digital receptor mode systems, however.  

“What we're going for are the machines that are more commonly used in the bigger centres,” Giguere said. “Image quality with the newer technology is a lot more advanced, so we just want to be able to give the community crisper images.”

Upgrading the system could also aid in recruitment, she said, since more technologists in Quebec are familiar with using digital imaging machines. 

Fewer patients will be referred out to surrounding hospitals and clinics once the new system is installed, Giguere added. 

That’s because the X-ray machine at Kateri is currently not modern enough to produce scans of someone’s entire spine, needed when diagnosing and treating scoliosis. It also can’t be used to examine from patient’s hips all the way down to their ankles, Giguere said. Those kinds of scans will become available however once the new system is installed.

“The current equipment that we are using is standard,” Eniojukan said. “It was a great choice at the time that it was purchased. But as you know, technology changes very fast.”

She said it’s still too early to say when the new X-ray machine will be installed.

The next goal for the department is the hiring of an ultrasound technologist. The hospital has an ultrasound machine, but it’s gone unused because of a gap in hiring.

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