Ajax funds new $25,000 cancer detection hospital equipment

The town of Ajax has invested $25,000 into new cancer-detecting hospital equipment.

The funding for the Ajax-Pickering Hospital’s new equipment comes from the town’s Ajax Partnership Fund which allies the town with community partners to work toward shared goals. The partnership has funded more than $225,000 in local initiatives.

This time the town pitched in the $25,000 to buy equipment which examines tissue for early signs of cancer. “Using the new equipment, the piece of tissue is placed onto a slide, stain is added and then a coverslip is placed on top of the sample,” Ajax described, “Next, a pathologist puts that slide under a microscope – looking for the smallest sign of cancer.”

With the new equipment, the pathology team can now produce hundreds of these “crisp and clear” slides. The equipment essentially automates the slide preparation process making it more efficient and with better results.

The hospital installed the equipment two and a half months ago and has already produced 10,000 slides. They estimate this is three times faster than the traditional method, saving valuable treatment time. Ajax-Pickering Hospital Foundation CEO Tracy Paterson said of this change for patients, “Every day that goes by is another day too long. This new equipment means that our patients will have their diagnostic results faster, either enabling their treatment to begin sooner or for the relief of the all clear to be felt earlier.”

“I have heard that the new equipment is like ‘night and day’ in comparison to the old,” said Mayor Shaun Collier, “Investing in our local hospital, is an investment in the health of our community and I know this equipment will help our hospital improve services to our community.”