It's been four weeks since the KHMH finally received a CT Scan, after more than a decade without the essential piece of diagnostic equipment. And not only did they get a T Scan, but it's a state of the art "Fuji 128 Slice."
So while KHMH patients now no longer have to spend hundreds of dollars to use the private CT Scan at Belize Medical Associates, patients of all the regional hospitals are still required to travel all the way to Belize City to access the service.
And that's why Dr Marcelo Coyi, an OB-GYN at BMA, questioned the ministry's decision making. He stated in a Facebook post that it may have been more practical to purchase four 16 slice CT Scans and distribute them equitably among the three public hospitals as well as KHMH.
He explained more today.
Marcelo Coyi, Belize Medical Associates
"It's good for Karl Heusner, but it's not good for the rest of the country, because we have patients from Corozal and Punta Gorda, who still have to travel hundreds of miles to come for a CT, because it's centralized."
"I thought that what was bought at Karl Heusner, it's a state of the art, that really and truly what we need is for each district, and I would say each of the regional hospitals to get their own CT, and the work horse, or what can do very good CT is a 16 slice CT."
"And I thought that, you know, instead of buying a state of the art, instead of buying your iPhone latest iPhone, that you buy something more basic that can be used country-wide, you can get four of those for the price of one."
"But we still need to think of having a CT for the district hospitals, because they're not bad, I mean, that expensive anymore, like anything else with time, they come cheaper. We bought our 16 slice here many years ago for about $750,000 BZ, and that's duty paid."
"So obviously, you can get it for $600,000 then, but now it's even cheaper. So if you buy four of them, you're talking about $2.4 million."
Reporter
"What is the difference between having a 128 slice compare to a, 16 slice?"
Marcelo Coyi, Belize Medical Associates
"Right, what happened is that the slices is how much detectors it has in the console, and the speed at which it moves. And so the CT of 128, for example, is the movement that it does, the amount in one rotation."
"So it's good for what you called cardiac CT, because if the heart beats, you know, eight times. per minute, it can pick up, it can do what you call a cardio CT, an andro CT with a 128 without much problems, as opposed to a 16 slice, it's not possible, with a 64th slice it's possible, but you have to slow down the heart."
"So it's good for cardiac studies, but the majority of the CTs in fact are actually general CTs, and so yes, we are buying something that's very good for cardiology, I think Dr. Adrian Coyi is going to be very happy, but the workload in a hospital, 90% is other things, the trauma, the abdominal pain, and what have you, and it will more serve more people if you bought a basic CT that is just as good."
"It's a matter of priorities of the health planners, I mean if you say a 16 slice is half a million dollars, right? One of those big utility Prados, they go for $250,000, so you just have to not buy two of those and buy a CT."
"It's a matter of priorities, you know, where you want to put your money."
Dr Coyi also noted that the process of purchasing and getting a CT Scan in country is relatively simple. He said he hopes the public hospital will soon be able to get their own equipment to service the other parts of the country.
In the case of the KHMH, the T scan was acquired through a local supplier, not a direct purchase from the manufacturer or distributor.
