And in health news, if you're in need of a CT Scan, you no longer have to break the bank at a private institution to get one. That's because the KHMH's brand new machine is fully operational.
It's been a long time coming, and we showed you it being delivered last month. And today the media got to test out the state of the art machine.
Courtney Menzies was there and has this story.
It's been about four weeks since KHMH finally received a CT Scan machine, after about a decade without one. It's an essential service that the largest hospital in the country has not been able to provide.
But the equipment has since been set up in a specialized, upgraded room, and is ready for take care of patients' needs.
Today the KHMH's CEO called it a "big win."
Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"We are extremely elated, particularly from the perspective of the patient and the doctors, because we are now able to perform that level of service that we needed to do a long time ago."
"This is a big win for the patients and the staff, because now the patients don't need to go outside of the hospital to get tested. And also, the doctors now have an additional diagnostic tool that is at a very high level that will enable them to make better diagnosis, prescribe better treatment, and we have better results."
Dr Barnabe Carrillo, Head Radiologist, KHMH
"It was difficult for the patients, you know, because if we have a critical patient in ICU, the patients had to be moved. They are very unstable - and to be moving a patient that needs a CT from one, from here to another place, you know, it's a very difficult decision because although they need to see what's going on, but moving the patient, you know, can actually cause further health, deterioration to the patient."
"So this is a game changer for the patients."
And those patients now don't have just any basic CT Scan - but rather access to what the minister has called one of the best in the region.
Dr Barnabe Carrillo, Head Radiologist, KHMH
"One of the capabilities that this has that no other CT has is that it is able to do cardiac exams. You know, this is very important. Karl Heusner is the only place that has a cardiac program, with Dr. Coyi and Dr. Lin, with the help from doctors that come from abroad. So it's very important for that program and it's very important also because, you know, cardiovascular disease is one of the number one killers here in Belize in the world, right? Apart from that, it being the referral center, you know, this is probably the place where the most CTs get done. So this machine has the capability to do CTs faster than any other machine."
"So, you know, we can do more patients at a faster rate. So it can work and give at a faster pace, and it can take more patients in that sense."
But what about the other public hospitals? Yesterday Dr Marcelo Coyi complained that it might have been a more equitable decision for the Ministry of Health to purchase a cheaper CT Scan, and use the rest of the money to put the equipment in the other hospitals.
We asked the KHMH CEO for her thoughts.
Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"For us, our perspective is from a public health, sorry, a public service perspective. And so I think a lot of people don't realize that health, and access to quality health care is actually a part of poverty alleviation."
"And so why not, why not, why shouldn't the regular normal man and woman off the street of Belize City, have access to such a superior service?"
Reporter
"Their argument was also that while this, we have the CT scan here, the other public hospitals don't have one, and that those persons from Corozal and Toledo and Dangriga, they have to travel all the way here to be able to get this service as opposed to getting a less expensive CT scan and placing them in all of the public hospitals."
Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"Well, remember, Karl Heusner is the only tertiary institution in Belize. And so our concern is the provision of care from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Indeed, the ministry can explore options that were suggested, but there are many things that go along with purchasing a CT."
"For example, I think in the UK, you have one CT scan for every 125,000 people. So it's not feasible to have a CT scan for every, you know, 10, 15,000 people we already have, and that includes private and public access."
"We already have about five CTs in the public sector. And so I think that access to the CT scan service is equitable from the perspective of, you know, getting it either private or in the public sector."
And while the service is so far only available to patients in hospital, the CEO says the general public will soon be able to access the service.
According to the CEO, the price for the service ranges from $300-$400.
