Revolutionizing Healthcare: Introducing the Northern BC Mobile Ultrasound Machine

WITH GRATEFUL HEARTS

This past year, thanks to the generous support of an anonymous donor, Northern British Columbia launched the Regional Mobile Ultrasound Program to help mitigate the challenges faced by Northerners with respect to ultrasound services. Given the vast distances between communities and critical equipment and staffing challenges, many residents are forced to travel to receive basic ultrasound diagnostics and echocardiography services.

This combination was highlighted as causing significant barriers to care throughout Northern BC, which called for innovative thinking with the aim of reducing barriers to diagnostic services throughout the North.

Northern Health had identified a Diagnostic Imaging Strategic Plan for Northern BC aimed at closing this very gap, with that strategic plan, the Mobile Ultrasound and Echocardiography Service had been highlighted as the third and final pillar of the strategy to bring stronger, more accessible care to the North.

This program is the first of its kind in the North and has highlighted the importance of mobility to respond to the challenges seen in our communities. Beyond the tangible diagnostic numbers, the indirect impact of this program is vast and reaches more patients each and every day. The travel, cost, and time it saves our residents is invaluable and highlights what can be done to bring care to very remote and rural communities.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, Mobile Ultrasound Team, and Northern Patients, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to this generous donor and their commitment to our Northern BC communities, and for seeing the impact this program would have on so many residents. We hope you feel, as we do, the direct impact this program is having towards removing barriers to care, once thought impossible.

Thank you.

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