Mobile X-ray program coming to P.E.I. long-term care homes next month

The P.E.I. government is launching a new mobile X-ray program in May, allowing residents in both public and private long-term care facilities to receive some types of diagnostic scans without leaving their homes.

Minister of Health and Wellness Mark McLane said the new unit is expected to reduce ambulance wait times and improve care for seniors.

Last year, Island EMS transferred more than 1,000 patients for diagnostic imaging, he said.

"They've taken up a lot of time in order to pick up a resident and take that resident to the hospital for an X-ray," McLane told reporters Wednesday.

He said that while offering a better experience for the patient by providing care in familiar settings, the new service will eliminate many round trips for ambulances and relatives alike, taking patients between care homes and hospitals. 

"By reducing hospital visits, we improve patient comfort, lower stress and ease the burden of our hospital system," he said at the legislature.

Some residents will still need to visit a hospital, though.

For now, the mobile service will be limited to chest X-rays, used to diagnose things like pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cracked ribs. More imaging options will be added in the coming months, McLane said.

First mobile X-ray

Edna MacInnis received the first mobile X-ray last month at Whisperwood Villa Seniors Home in Charlottetown.

"I was very surprised that they took the machine in, and I was the first one on the Island to have this done," she told CBC News. "I was really shocked. I couldn't believe it… to have a machine to come in a place like this, and you don't have to go to hospital or anything like that to have it done.

"It's easy on my family. They don't have to take me here and there."

She hopes more Islanders can benefit from the convenience and comfort of the mobile service.

"And all seniors out there, I hope they have the same experience that I did," she said.

Nadine Hooper Thompson, a medical radiation technologist involved in the project, agrees the new service is helpful for seniors, especially those with dementia.

"It's very disruptive for them to come out of their home, and it can take days after to kind of get them re-acclimatized, so it's much easier on them," Hooper Thompson said.

She described the mobile unit as a compact setup that includes a laptop, an X-ray detector, and an X-ray tube.

The detector is placed behind the resident's back, and once the image is taken with the mobile unit, it appears instantly on the laptop screen.

Hooper Thompson said the entire process typically takes just five to 10 minutes, with most of the time spent on carefully positioning the resident.

'A little bit slow to get going'

Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly welcomed the initiative but pointed out it stems from a federal agreement signed back in 2023.

The plan to improve access to diagnostic imaging was part of a $94-million health care agreement signed with the federal government in December 2023. That agreement outlined several priorities that the province will need to implement by 2026, including improving access to diagnostic services and reducing wait times.

In March 2024, officials announced more details about how part of that $94 million would be spent on measures to help Islanders age with dignity, including the establishment of a mobile X-ray unit.

"And here we are the next year, it's just getting started, so although a little bit slow to get going, I think this is a great program," McNeilly said in the legislature.

Green Party MLA Matt MacFarlane also voiced support.

"Anything that can make lives easier for residents of long-term care facilities, by having the service come to them and minimize transfer and potential for injury and disruption, is a good thing," MacFarlane said.

"Hopefully, there will be no issues in the scans, the X-ray results getting into the right files of the patients. [We] want to make sure that the continuity of the file is there, if those patients are lucky enough to actually have a primary-care provider for the files and the X-ray results to get into."