Beginning on Monday (Nov. 2), the staff at the Whistler Health Care Centre (WHCC) will have an important new tool with which to diagnose patients who come into the facility suffering from apparent cases of acute trauma.

Thanks to a host of contributors, including more than $1 million donated to the Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton health care foundations, the Sea to Sky corridor now has its first Computerized Tomography (CT) scanner.

Officials on Friday (Oct. 23) cut the ribbon on the scanner and 900-square-foot addition to the centre in a ceremony that Dr. Jack Taunton, medical director for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee (VANOC), said was “long overdue.”

According to Taunton, the centre sees some 24,000 skiers and snowboarders and 21,000 mountain bikers who have suffered various types of injuries. That fact alone is more than sufficient reason to have sited the new piece of advanced diagnostic equipment here, he said.

When a person who appears to be suffering from some form of trauma is brought to the centre, the scanner “will help the physicians and other medical staff here understand what the degree of that acute trauma is,” Taunton said.

“It gives me a lot of relief now to know that the staff here will be able to meet that challenge.”

Joan McIntyre, MLA for West Vancouver-Garibaldi, was among those who spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. She noted the absence of Dr. LaVerne Kindree, the long-time Squamish physician and health-care leader who died recently. A recent inductee into Order of Canada, his contributions toward improving health care in the corridor helped achieve the goal of having a CT scanner in the corridor.

McIntyre then announced the death late Thursday of Jack Poole, chair of the VANOC board, whom she said “would have been with us in spirit today.” The news drew an audible gasp from the 60-or-so people in attendance.

VANOC and General Electric, and particularly semi-retired GE executive Paul Foster, were lauded for having contributed the state-of-the-art, $1.9-million scanner to the project as an Olympic legacy.

The lion's share of the accolades, though, were reserved for the many contributors to the community fundraising campaign run by the Whistler Health Care Foundation, and foundation chair Marnie Simon, for their tireless dedication to the project.

“If it wasn't for the fundraising efforts of the community, this scanner would not have been possible,” said Mike Nader, executive director of clinical support services with Vancouver Coastal Health.

Nader, noting that the scanner will be used an estimated 3,000 times per year, added, “I hope we don’t have lineups at the door.”