THURSDAY
S I N C E
1 8 9 5
MARCH 29, 2012 Vol. 117, Issue 62
Big band searches for more brass
110
$
Page 2
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF
ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALM SALMO
KBRH HEALTH FOUNDATION
Fundraising goal hits halfway mark The Trail hospital that much closer to having digital mammography with stereotactic capabilities
School district to cough up more cash for sick days Other purchases will be put on hold, says SD20 superintendent
BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
The Trail hospital is moving toward advanced equipment to deliver testing for women in the Kootenay Boundary who have a history of breast cancer or current symptoms. The Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (KBRH) Health Foundation has just raised half of the $950,000 needed to replace its 11-yearold film mammography machine with a digital mammography with stereotactic capabilities. “I’ve been a mammography technician for 25 years so all of this is very personal,” said Sue DeRosa, head of digital imaging at KBRH. Her mom, Rita Holmes of Rossland, was diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago when an abnormality was picked up during a screening while her sister Gillian Minchuk, who lives on the Coast, was diagnosed nine years ago when she found a lump on her breast. Her mom managed to rid the cancer after a lumpectomy and radiation but her sister went through a more trying process. “It was quite a shock,” said DeRosa, noting that her sister had a lumpectomy, mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy but despite all of her efforts the disease came back in her bones. Special treatment then kept it at bay for about two years before it came back in her brain. After brain surgery to remove the tumor and radiation, Minchuk joined her mom as a cancer survivor. A mammography exam is
BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
VALERIE ROSSI PHOTO
Taryn Zanier, x-ray and mammography technician demonstrates the Trail hospital’s current 11-year-old film-based machine with help from her coworker Heidi Harapnuk. used to aid in the early detection and diagnosis of breast diseases in women, a process that is expedited with digital equipment. This state-of-the-art machine will not only support diagnostic imaging but also general surgical practice at the Trail hospital. Stereotactic biopsy capabilities means patients may be able to have a needle biopsy instead of invasive surgery to diagnose a breast lump. “These biopsies are done in the mammography room instead of the OR, which means a faster recovery and reduced pressure on our OR,” explained Thalia Vesterback, Interior Health regional manager of diagnostic imaging. “Some patients will still require surgery but it means more options for surgeons and their patients.”
3.7 MILLION
REASONS TO BE A MEMBER.
The accepted gold standard of care in breast imaging produces high-resolution images that can be sent electronically to another facility when a second opinion is needed from other radiologists, surgeons or oncologists. “Specialists’ opinions are now only a click way,” explained Lisa Pasin, KBRH Health Foundation director. “This is important in our mountainous, rural remote setting.” Mammography is the last imaging modality in KBRH’s medical imaging department to move to digital but filmbased systems will still be an integral part of imaging service for some time to come. “This is in keeping with our computer-based world,” said Vesterback. “Just as filmbased cameras have been replaced with digital cameras,
we are doing the same in diagnostic imaging.” The Trail Hospital Auxiliary just donated $10,000 to the cause, bringing its total contribution up to $70,000, and topping the Health Foundation’s goal to the half mark of $480,000. The Health Foundation has received widespread support for its campaign, reaching generous residents across the Kootenay Boundary, but it’s still plugging away in hopes of reaching its objective by 2013. Formerly called the Trail Regional Hospital Foundation, the Health Foundation has raised over $10.6 million to advance health care in the Kootenay Boundary since 1988. The Foundation’s revenue is generated through donations from private and corporate donors.
Sick days for staff continue to plague the school district as it now faces a further hit to its current budget. An extra $150,000 might have to be absorbed into School District 20’s (Kootenay Columbia) current budget as substitute expenditures keep climbing. With only 15 per cent of the budget left ($148,000) and around $400,000 expected to pay substitute staff to cover for illness and other leaves of absence in the next four months, SD20’s board of trustees got a grim look Monday night at their regular monthly meeting at Blueberry School at how the books will be balanced this year. The substitute expenditures mean some planned school district purchases will be put on hold, said SD20 superintendent of schools, Greg Luterbach, noting there was some money in the budget to replace vehicles for the district’s maintenance crew, as well as buy some new computers. “They will be on hold until we see how we are going to balance the budget,” Luterbach said. “So there are going to be some unhappy people … because we are going to have to use that money to balance this year’s budget.” This is of serious concern, he added, considering how the expenditure is affecting other areas of the district’s operation. The total substitute expenditure for February was over $110,000. For the year the district had budgeted around $1.02 million, or $83,000 per month. Trustee Gordon Smith asked what the average age for a teacher was in SD20. He cited a recent comment from Kootenay Columbia Teachers Union representative Andy Davidoff that the local union contained the oldest complement of teachers in the province. Provincial statistics show the KCTU is the second oldest at an average of 48 years, said Luterbach. “But over the last four years our teaching force has gotten two years younger,” he said
Kootenay Savings’ 10% profit sharing dividend this year has put $3.7 million back into our members’ pockets and our local economy. Join us and put your money where your heart is for all the right reasons.
kscu.com
See SUBSTITUTE, Page 3
Contact the Times: Phone: 250-368-8551 Fax: 250-368-8550 Newsroom: 250-364-1242