SUDBURY, Ont. – Health Sciences North, in Sudbury, Ont., is in the process of acquiring a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner, which is considered the ‘gold standard’ in detecting and tracking lesions in cancer patients. The organization intends to have the scanner installed in 2018.

The hospital has been working for years to get a PET scanner installed and Mark Hartman (pictured), the vice president of cancer and clinical support, now says they’re choosing the vendor who will supply the equipment.

“That information has to go back to the Ministry of Health in stages to get approvals before we move on to the next stage of design to make sure things like cost of the project are in-line, the scope of the project is in-line and the schedule is in-line,” he said.

The Northern Cancer Foundation has raised the $4 million to purchase the scanner and the provincial government has said it is paying for the construction of a special suite at the hospital to house it.

Hartman said he expects construction on the suite to begin this fall. According to architectural drawings, it will be on the second level of the south tower, adjacent to the nuclear medicine department.

He added that so far, everything is on-track to have the equipment operational by mid-2018.

“[We’re] looking for those approvals to move forward to construction into the fall,” he said. “So the timelines on the schedule sort of look at tendering and construction into the fall with then construction lasting us probably around nine months.”

Staff working in the nuclear medicine department will operate the PET scanner, according to hospital officials, adding that CT scans can also be performed using the hybrid equipment.

“We’re still aiming at the middle of 2018 as having the equipment in place,” Hartman said. “We’ll know a bit more in the early stages of next year what that schedule looks like, but we’re hoping for the middle of 2018 at this stage.”