Central Montana Medical Center in Lewistown recently partnered with Shared Medical Services in order to provide PET/CT scan technology to the community.
Justin Robicheau reports - watch the video:
The mobile digital PET CT truck, operated by Shared Medical Services, arrives at Central Montana Medical Center (CMMC) every other week on Thursdays from 7 A.M. - 2 P.M. to provide advanced cancer screening and monitoring services to the region.
"We've been working really hard with Amy, Rick and Heather to bring this service here. PET CT is a very needed service within Montana. And to be able to bring this service to CMMC, it's an incredible feeling," Director of Sales Shared Medical Services Zach Johnson said.
"The PET scanner is a complement to other imaging modalities. So CT and MRI show where things are located in the body. The PET is the complement we show the radiologists how the body is working,Regional Vice President of Shared Medical Services Ellen Ask said."
"The scanner is pretty fast. It's one of the new digital PET CTs. A whole body scan is about 14, 15 minutes, and your eyes to thighs is about the patient my size at about 5'8" 5'9" 220 pounds is about 7 to 8 minutes," Johnson said.
Before this mobile service became available, patients had to travel far and wide for PET CT scans, according to Amy D'Autremont, Helmsley Cancer Center Manager CMMC.
"Still, had we not been able to work with SMS to bring this in, we're still sending patients regularly down to Billings, over to Great Falls wherever we can get them in. I've sent patients as far as Sidney to get their PET CT as urgently as we could," D'Autremont said.
"We are taking referrals from outside facilities such as Great Falls or Billings. Those scanners tend to fill up very quickly. We still have a lot of availability and hope to be able to have urgent add on flexibility throughout our program," Radiology Manager Heather Haynes said.
Shared Medical Services also operates mobile PET CT services in Sidney and Miles City, with plans to expand to additional Montana communities. CMMC is hoping to add an additional day for the mobile PET CT truck.
