By Emily Stonehouse

“This is such a historical moment for our community,” said Lauren Ernst, the communications and employee experience lead for Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS), in reference to the long-awaited arrival of a mammography machine at the Haliburton Hospital site.

The journey towards diagnostic imaging for HHHS was kickstarted last year, and the team moved quickly to hustle the process along, knowing that the additions to the services would directly benefit the community.

“Diagnostic imaging tools are key to our future success and providing care locally,” said HHHS CEO Veronica Nelson. “We know that these services will better support the needs of patients with quicker diagnostics.”

An additional benefit to including diagnostic imaging in the roster of services HHHS offers is that they will reduce EMS visits out of county, which aims to keep ambulances available for local emergencies. On top of that, the expansion of services also hopes to attract more healthcare workers to the rural site, including doctors, nurses, and medical radiation technologists.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, it is estimated that approximately one in eight women will develop breast cancer over their lives. In 2024, 30,500 were diagnosed across the country. Early detection is key to managing symptoms and improving success rates towards treatment plans.

“Mammography is the most effective way of detecting breast cancer in women,” said Nelson. “With the addition of mammography services, HHHS will be able to provide services in a remote area that is currently under-served, including over 6000 at-risk women who live here.”

On Feb. 3, HHHS welcomed the delivery of the mammography machine on-site. Through snowy weather, Melanie Klodt Wong, the HHHSF Executive Director and David Blodgett, HHHSF Board Chair joined Nelson in taking the heavy machinery off the truck, and delivering it into the Haliburton Hospital site.

“We are so excited to have this state of the art equipment here in Haliburton,” said Nelson. “We are one of the first hospitals in Ontario that has this type of mammography equipment.”

The CEO noted that the equipment will enable hospital staff to identify images that can see behind dense breast tissue, offering further insight and medical imaging to ensure early risks of breast cancer are treated effectively and quickly, without having to leave the county.

The machine will be up and running in three to four weeks time, to enable appropriate staff training on the unit.