The purchase of a new nuclear medicine machine for the University Hospital of Northern BC was approved in a bylaw adopted by the Fraser Fort-George Regional Hospital District Board of Directors at its last meeting of 2024.
Heading into the Dec. 19 meeting, Northern Health was requesting $1,102,000 from the hospital district for the purchase of a Hawkeye camera, representing 40 per cent of the total cost of $2,755,000.
Of the amount being contributed by the district, $240,000 is coming from the 2024 budget and $862,000 from the 2025 budget.
A Hawkeye machine allows for SPECT scans, which stands for “single photon emission computed tomography.” After a patient consumes a radioactive tracer liquid, the machine tracks the flow of the tracer through the body to help examine things like blood flow, organ condition, the location of tumours and more.
According to a letter from a Northern Health capital accounting manager to the hospital district, the previous Hawkeye machine was purchased in 2007.
“There are some risks and issues with using a machine this old, such as image quality that does not meet current standards, and the inability to adjust radiation dose to the patient during CT attenuation correction,” the letter said.
Director Art Kaehn (Electoral Area E) introduced a motion to postpone the decision until budget deliberations next year, but it was defeated by a margin of nine to five.
“I’m in support of getting the equipment, I just want to know where the money’s coming from next year,” he said.
He further explained that he would like to see funds made available through the board through decommitment.
By email, the district general manager of financial services explained what decommitment means in this context.
“Decommitted funds are funds that have previously been approved by Regional Hospital District bylaw related to specific projects,” White wrote. “Funding approved by bylaw remains committed until the funds have been used in full, or the project is complete and Northern Health advises that the remaining funds can be de-committed.”
At the meeting, it was said that there are $2.1 million in decommitment funds available heading into 2025.
Explaining his opposition to a postponement, Director Owen Torgerson (Village of Valemount) cited the issues with the current machine as outlined by Northern Health.
Director Kyle Sampson (City of Prince George) said the board had already drawn a line in the sand over what it is willing to pay for in 2025 and the approval of the purchase would go against that.
“I think we need to recognize that if we have some decommitment funds, that’s a windfall for the taxpayer and it’s going to lessen the burden for next year and we should respect that, in my opinion,” Sampson said.
“Northern Health is aware of where our line in the sand is and I think we should just continue to work. All of these projects are going to be important to us, I would hope, and finding creative ways to find money takes away (from) the decision that we made previously.”
District staff said that any money not spent in one fiscal year is transferred to reserves and that the Dec. 19 meeting would effectively be the board’s last chance to use any 2024 funds before that happens.
After the bylaw was approved, Kaehn proposed another motion calling for the machine to be purchased with 2024 decommitment funds so that it doesn’t count against the 2025 spending cap. His second motion was carried.
