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It was cake and celebration at the Legion Community Hall in Cabri on Thursday.
The Town of Cabri and the Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation were cutting the ribbon on the installation of a new digital X-ray machine.
This new machine cost the community a total of $262,000 and is installed at the Prairie Health Centre in Cabri. The bulk of that money was fundraised by the Cabri Union Hospital Auxiliary.
President of the Auxiliary, Colleen Wallis, helped organize this idea after it was brought forward in 2017.
"Heidi was our lab tech at that time and she said what we really need is a new X-ray machine," recalled Wallis. "She said, you know, they're not really that expensive."
After partnering with the DNIF, the push for this device was strong from the start. Momentum was good heading into 2019 until the pandemic brought the world to a halt.
"We were told that the X-ray machine might cost $200,000," said Wallis. " But like everything else out here in Cabri, with the movement in the earth, we thought we should let's raise a little bit more than what we need."
Once things began to move again, so did the fundraising. The Auxiliary was able to rally local clubs and individuals together, raising $250,000.
However, while they had a fully lead-lined X-ray lab operating, it ended up needing some minor renovations. Once those were in place, the final cost was just north of $262,000.
Alex Shirley, director of medical of medical imaging for rural Saskatchewan, and Erin Bolton, the medical imaging manager for southwest one, four, and five health networks, were at the celebration on behalf of the SHA. They were explaining how the machine works to anyone with questions, and explaining what it was capable of doing.
"It has a table so we can stand the patient up, lay them down or do imaging while they're seated," said Bolton. "If you were looking at a hand or a wrist, we would have the patient sit down."
The machine itself is a Siemens floor-mount digital X-ray. The main advantage of this unit over the old film setup is that digital X-rays can be sent immediately to professionals anywhere on the provincial network. This allows for the seamless sharing of information.
"It can be read in real-time by a radiologist sitting in Swift Current," said Shirley. "As soon as 5 minutes after it's been taken, whereas before you would have had to physically mail it to be read."
Kris Johnson, executive director of the DNIF, applauded how well the partnership between her organization and the Cabri community went in this endeavour.
"The partnership has been phenomenal," said Johnson. "The auxiliary, the town, the community, they've just been unreal to work with. Their passion for the community and getting updated equipment, you couldn't ask for anything better in a partnership."
If any other community is interested in a similar purchase of equipment or upgrade of service, they are asked to contact the SHA about working with the DNIF to pursue that goal.