OREANDA-NEWS. For the health care community of Saskatchewan, the opening of the PotashCorp PET/CT Centre at Royal University Hospital (RUH) was a cause for celebration.

For Cindy Komodowski, who was diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer in 2002, it was a life-changing event.

“Just knowing I can sleep in my own bed after an appointment will make such a difference,” says the Saskatoon native, who since 2004 has made treks to Edmonton or Vancouver for the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans needed to track her response to drug treatments. “The last thing you need when you’re trying to cope with an illness is to be separated from your home and family.”

Supported by PotashCorp’s USD 1 million matching gift donation, the Centre is expected to serve nearly 2,000 patients each year. The PET scanner will give doctors a detailed view of how organs and tissues are actually working - unlike magnetic resonance imagining (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), which show only the structure of and blood flow to and from organs.

By giving doctors greater detail for diagnosis, PET scans reduce the need for invasive examinations and surgeries in treating everything from cancer to neurological disorders.

“The applications for PET scans are growing,” says Dr. Paul Babyn, RUH’s Department Head of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine. “We’re only scratching the surface of what we can do.”

Digging deeper into the possibilities of PET scans will also benefit Saskatchewan patients by keeping the Province at the forefront of one of medicine’s most critical and fast-developing fields. “A facility like this helps attract the best nuclear medicine physicians and scientists to the area,” says Dr. Babyn. “It helps keep Saskatchewan at the cutting edge in medical education.”

“With benefits to people across the province, the RUH PET/CT Centre was a perfect fit for PotashCorp’s strategic investment priorities”, says PotashCorp’s Vice President, Investor and Public Relations Denita Stann. “Health care and education are key to our community investment program,” says Stann. “The Centre will help us improve quality of life in Saskatchewan, so it was a good fit for us.”

Perhaps no one knows better the quality of life improvement the Centre provides than Cindy Komodowski. “It’s hard to put into words how comforting it is to know you can go through all of this surrounded by family,” says Cindy. “It takes so much of the stress away, and it gives you strength to face your challenges.”