The hospital’s long awaited $3.7 million tala computerized tomography or CT scan has arrived.
However the hospital must wait for special technicians from overseas to arrive in the Country to assemble and install the machine before it can be used.
This was confirmed by Minister of Health, Valasi Tafito Selesele in an interview with Radio Polynesia at his office yesterday.
The Minister said the technicians will arrive later next month, but in the meantime the hospital is working with the Accidental Compensation Corporation to build a secure building to store the new CT scan.
He said the CT scan was paid for by the Accidental Compensation Corporation and thanked them for their contribution to the health care of the Samoan people.
In January, Minister of Public Enterprises, Leatinu’u Wayne So’oialo that oversees the Accidental Compensation Corporation that purchased the scan, confirmed the cost of the CT scan is $3.7 million tala which was purchased from Shanghai China.
A vital tool for the hospital, a CT scan combines a series of X-ray images taken from different angles around your body and uses computer processing to create cross-sectional images of the bones, blood vessels and soft tissues inside your body. CT scan images provide more-detailed information than plain X-rays and it’s a diagnostic imaging procedure to guide further tests and treatments.
The hospital has been operating without a CT scan since last year; Samoan patients were flown to New Zealand and American Samoa for a scan.
According to Minister Leatinu’u, when their Administration took over, the previous Cabinet approved the purchase of the CT scan by the Accidental Compensation Corporation.
The ACC will also purchase the necessary parts to repair the CT scan which is under commission as a spare.