O'Connor Hospital Celebrates Purchase of New CT Scanner and Completion of $750,000 Fundraising Campaign

Philanthropic donors, community members, and leaders from Bassett Healthcare Network and O’Connor Hospital gathered on June 19 for a ribbon cutting and reception celebrating the hospital’s newly-purchased, state-of-the-art CT (computerized tomography) scanner. The acquisition of this upgraded medical equipment was made possible through a $750,000 fundraising campaign.

Thanks to donors, O’Connor Hospital is the first of four Bassett Healthcare Network hospitals slated to obtain a new CT scanner to purchase and begin using the new equipment. Installation of a new CT scanner is currently underway at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown. Little Falls Hospital and Cobleskill Regional Hospital are slated for upgrades in the future. All of the new CT scanners will have the same technology and operating platform, which will make collaboration between hospitals easier.

New Technology Leads to High-Quality Images, Added Accessibility, and Lower Radiation

The new Philips CT scanner marks a major improvement from the older system the hospital had been relying on. A CT scanner takes multiple X-ray images of a patient from different angles. These images, also known as slices, come together to form a three-dimension image of the patient’s body, which gives that patient’s medical team a wealth of crucial information as they make diagnoses and plan treatments. When a patient is brought into the CT scanner, its circular opening rotates to capture these slices. The new CT scanner captures 128 slices every time it rotates. The previous CT scanner captured 40 slices during each rotation.

This high-quality scan is also accomplished in less time. Patients are required to hold their breath while a scan is taken, so the reduction from 20 seconds to 6 seconds can be significant, especially for patients who may be dealing with respiratory challenges. The CT scanner has an oversized table, with a wide range of motion, that can accommodate a weight of up to 450 pounds. Artificial intelligence (AI) enabled on the CT scanner optimizes image quality while reducing the radiation dose.

“Over the past five years CT volume at O’Connor Hospital has increased dramatically,” said Peter Burghardt, Manager of Medical Imaging for the Southern Region of Bassett Healthcare Network, which includes O’Connor Hospital. “In 2020, the hospital closed the year out with about 2,000 CT scans and in 2024, we completed just shy of 3,500 scans. This showcases just how important this technology is for our hospital and its patients.”

A Close-Knit Community Comes Together

The purchase of O’Connor Hospital’s CT scanner in less than a year could not have happened so expeditiously without the commitment of community supporters. A progress tracker has been on display outside the front of the hospital since the summer of 2024, showing the steady climb of this fundraising campaign all the way to $750,000.

The funding not only allowed the hospital to acquire and install the new equipment, but also supported improvements to the imaging suite, like new flooring and an upgraded heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

A plaque has been installed in the imaging suite recognizing each of the major donors who contributed to the campaign, including benefactors Joyce and David Barber. Joyce was actively involved in the campaign as a member of the Friends of Bassett and O’Connor Hospital Boards of Trustees.

“This fantastic community really went above and beyond in support of this necessary project and I am so grateful,” said Peter Hamilton, Chair of O’Connor Hospital’s Board of Trustees and Regional Vice President of Friends of Bassett Healthcare Network’s Board of Trustees. “It’s been my pleasure to work with the board, hospital leaders, clinicians, other staff members, and the Friends of Bassett Healthcare Network to bring this effort to such a positive conclusion.”

From left to right, Peter Burghardt, Manager of Medical Imaging for the Southern Region of Bassett Healthcare Network; Katie Schriver, Radiology Site Lead at O’Connor Hospital; Peter Hamilton, Chair of O’Connor Hospital’s Board of Trustees and Regional Vice President of Friends of Bassett Healthcare Network’s Board of Trustees; David Barber, Benefactor; Joyce Barber, Benefactor and member of the Friends of Bassett and O’Connor Boards of Trustees; and Staci Thompson, MHA, FACMPE, President and CEO of Bassett Healthcare Network.