Greater Sudbury city council has once again passed a motion acknowledging their support to bring a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner to the Sudbury Regional Hospital.

Seventeen municipalities in northeastern Ontario have passed similar motions, and Greater Sudbury was the first and now the most recent to reaffirm its intentions.

The motion was put forth at the Feb. 16 policy committee meeting after a community delegation presentation by Knights of Columbus members.

Tony Sottile, chancellor with the Knights of Columbus Father Brian McKee Council 1387, said his organization wanted city council to pass a resolution asking the minister of finance to make a PET scanner a priority in the spring budget.

Maybe it’s as simple as having one relocated to Sudbury that isn’t being utilized.

Ward 2 Coun. Jacques Barbeau

“Clinical experts believe that there is sufficient evidence that the PET improves diagnoses and treatment of patients overall,” he said.

Ward 1 Coun. Joe Cimino said a similar motion was passed last year by city council. “I know that this is definitely an issue close to my heart,” he said. “I don't see any problem reaffirming that this council again urges the government to look at opportunities to have a PET scan here.”

Ward 11 Coun. Terry Kett said he had lost a number of members of his family — including his dad, mom, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law and brother-in-law — to cancer. He said he had spoken with hospital officials about the subject.

“Reality is when I talk to (Sudbury Regional Hospital CEO) Dr. (Denis) Roy, he told me ... the priorities at the hospital are for MRI,” he said. “MRI covers a broader spectrum of our population than the PET scan. There's a 250-day wait for an MRI in this area whereas there is no wait for a PET scan, although we have to travel.”

There are 10 PET scanners in nine different communities in Ontario. An 11th PET scanner is in the process of being installed in Toronto.

Ward 2 Coun. Jacques Barbeau said there is no wait time for a PET scanner in Ontario on the existing 10 units in operation.
“Are they being underutilized?” he said. “I would suggest we find out some of that information.”

Barbeau further said that purchasing a new PET scanner for Sudbury may not be the answer.

“Maybe we don't have to purchase one (a PET scanner),” he said. “Maybe it's as simple as having one relocated to Sudbury that isn't being utilized.”

Out of the 10 PET scanners that are in Ontario, the northeast is the only area that doesn't have one. Ward 10 Coun. Frances Caldarelli said she thinks the distribution is unfair.

“(There is) a medical school in Sudbury (and) the hospital is...going to be certified as a teaching hospital,” she said. “We got tons and tons of referrals from all over the northeast.”

Caldarelli further said the City of Greater Sudbury should be accommodated, whether it be the purchase of a new PET scanner or relocating one to Sudbury from southern Ontario.

“It would seem to me that there is a gross unfairness if they are installing another PET scanner in Toronto,” she said. “If we can go to southern Ontario and get an appointment fairly quickly, it would seem to me that it would be a lot easier to move a patient across the City of Toronto than it would be to send them from Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie or Sudbury.”

On Feb. 15, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci issued a press release that reaffirmed his position on the PET scanner issue.

“Sudbury and northeastern Ontario are not being treated any differently than anywhere else in Ontario,” he stated. “All Ontario hospitals that have PET scanners have paid for them. The province does not purchase PET scanners, hospitals do. The role of the province is to approve the use of, and fund the operating of PET scanners.”

But Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas said the PET scanner is an equity issue. She said when the province decided to cover scans as an insured service, they never considered where the scans were located.

“I don't buy the argument that hospitals have to purchase their PET scanners,” she said. “If you look everywhere else, hospitals that did (get) PET scanners have gotten them through research grants with the exception of Thunder Bay where it was a very generous family who did the purchase.”

A recommendation was put forth and unanimously carried by city council asking finance minister Dwight Duncan to consider prioritizing a PET scanner for Greater Sudbury in the 2011 provincial budget, and requesting minister of health and long-term care Deb Matthews to fund the operating costs.

An amendment was added stating if funding was not available to do so, a request would be issued to have a PET scanner relocated to Sudbury from southern Ontario.