Providing radiology services to Goose Bay
A new contract between the Health Care Corporation of Labrador and a group of radiologists based at the Faculty of Medicine will see the provision of radiology services to the Lake Melville Hospital at Happy Valley/Goose Bay.
Radiology services to Labrador City have been supplied for a number of years by the Grace Hospital, while the Lake Melville Hospital relied on its own personnel. But it has been difficult to recruit a permanent radiologist to the site; Dr. E.R. Reddy, now a clinical professor of radiology based at the General Hospital, worked there from 1978-84 and holds the record for the longest stint at that site.
Along with Dr. P.J. McManamon, chair of the Discipline of Radiology, Dr. Reddy is now organizing the new services to Happy Valley/Goose Bay. That involves frequent visits -- two days to a week every six to eight weeks -- by a member of the Discipline of Radiology. The visits will also involve a teaching component, meeting the needs of residents at the Lake Melville Hospital.
Dr. McManamon said that the Lake Melville site has reasonably good equipment and the technicians to operate it, but the lack of a full-time radiologist leaves a gap that has to be filled. "I think this arrangement will work well, and maybe someday a radiologist will take on the job -- at which point we will have to reach out and make it reasonable for them." He noted that this would involve time off to work in St. John's and consult with colleagues.
Teleradiology may also fill some of the needs for the Lake Melville Hospital, and Dr McManamon hopes that a project to provide this service will soon be fully operational.
If the Lake Melville Hospital is able to attract a suitable candidate for be a full-time radiologist, Drs. McManamon and Reddy would be pleased. "We would try to offer such a person a situation whereby they would come and spend regular time with us so they are not isolated all the time. Our aim right now is to provide service, not to take work away from someone," said Dr. McManamon. "We are encouraging our senior residents to spend time at the Happy Valley/ Goose Bay site, and perhaps one of them might like to take on a permanent position."
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