Hospital adds to its state of the art inventory

Narrabri Hospital has further added to its inventory of state of the art equipment with the donation of an $85,000 portable ultra-sound machine.

The ultrasound can be taken to patients rather than bringing patients to a machine.

The bulk of funding for the machine came from residual money from the community program which raised money to buy a CT scanner for the hospital several years ago.

Whitehaven Coal added a significant contribution to allow the purchase to be made.

Chair of the community fund raising committee for the CT scanner, Sally Alexander, said the new ultrasound had been bought by the community of Narrabri.

Mrs Alexander thanked Whitehaven Coal.

“Without Whitehaven’s help we wouldn’t have been able to purchase the machine at this time,” she said.

Narrabri Chamber of Commerce supported the ultrasound acquisition.

Chamber chairman Russell Stewart thanked GP Dr Angus Wang.

“Dr Wang spoke very highly of the ultrasound machine and its diagnostic abilities and how it could benefit the whole community” said Mr Stewart.

The machine ‘has been paid for by the community and Whitehaven Coal and will be used for the community.’

“Provision of good quality equipment, I believe, will make it easier to attract good quality people to staff our local health system” he added.

Dr Wang explained that the portable ultrasound will be very beneficial in the emergency department for trauma, bleeding, hip fractures, tracing nerves and blood vessels.

It would also be very useful in obstetrics, used by retrieval teams and the up skilling of staff.