Guthrie Cortland Medical Center has officially revealed their new state-of-the-art PET/CT scanner. The addition of the machine will allow Guthrie to enhance their care for patients in the Cortland area.
The scanner is the only of its kind within Cortland County Guthrie says. Guthrie says the scanner will “complement” the care by the Renzi Cancer Center and the GCMC Imaging Teams. The hospital says it will also assist in additional diagnosis for patients.
“A PET/CT scanner detects and records the energy given off by the injected radioactive substance. It also produces CT images simultaneously. The unique nature of the images that come from combining the PET scans with the CT scans allows the radiologist to give providers combined information about the structure and function of your body.” Guthrie said in a release.
Guthrie says the scanner is performed for a variety of reasons. Those include: detecting cancer and/or making a diagnosis, determining whether the cancer has spread in the body, assessing the effectiveness of treatment, determining the effects of a heart attack, and evaluating brain abnormalities, such as tumors, memory disorders, seizures, and other central nervous system disorders.
“It is next level care this community has always deserved,” said Jennifer Yartym, SVP, GCMC President. “We’re proud and humbled to be able to deliver cutting edge care that rivals health care institutions throughout the region. Get your care here, where your home is and where your family is.”
The addition to the PET/CT scanner is another step forward to becoming a stroke-certified site, Guthrie says. If Guthrie Cortland Medical Center becomes a stroke-certified site, EMTs will no longer have to bypass the hospital to find a certified location for patients who’ve suffered a stroke.
The scanner cost Guthrie $1.8 million dollars, $250,000 dollars was from the Cortland Memorial Foundation.
