The CIBC Foundation has once again proven its commitment to improving the lives of all people living with cancer  with a $200,000 donation to the Health Services Foundation’s Brighter Days capital campaign, supporting the South Shore Regional Hospital redevelopment project.   

This generous gift is in support of the hospital’s first SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography)-CT scanner. A SPECT-CT is a form of nuclear medicine that combines the x-ray images of a traditional CT-scan with a 3D gamma radiation-camera, to give a 360-degree scan of a patient.

This type of nuclear medicine is an important diagnostic tool for many health conditions and diseases, especially useful in identifying many types of cancer. It can also track a patient’s progress during the different stages of their cancer journey.

Dr. Chen Meng, a Radiologist at South Shore Regional Hospital, says this will result in major improvements when analyzing a patient’s medical issues and needs.

“A SPECT-CT adds the benefit of a CT-scanner to a nuclear medicine scanner. For example, this will prove to be a significant improvement in care for cancer patients waiting for their diagnosis, particularly during this pandemic era where long wait times for diagnostic imaging tests are already impacting patients. A SPECT-CT will improve efficiency, decrease CT-scan wait times by freeing up our current CT-scanner, and provide a secondary backup CT scanner for when our primary machine is down for repair (for emergency cases). It will bring South Shore Regional Hospital to the same standard of care the rest of province and country experiences.”

South Shore Regional Hospital is one of only two hospitals without local access to a SPECT-CT scanner in the province.

“Cancer is a cause that is very important to us at CIBC because it affects so many Canadians, including our team members, clients, and loved ones. Through CIBC and the CIBC Foundation, we invest in organizations that deliver cancer research, treatment, screening and diagnosis; and wellness, survivorship, and patient support programs. We’re proud to support South Shore Regional Hospital as it works to improve the lives of all people living with cancer,” said Ronan Ryan, Executive Director of the CIBC Foundation.

Thank you, CIBC Foundation, for supporting the future of healthcare on Nova Scotia’s South Shore.