Patients receiving physiotherapy at Oilfields General Hospital are benefiting from a new piece of equipment courtesy of the Sheep River Health Trust.

The physio team submitted a request to the Health Trust who then recently purchased the approximately $6,000 SciFit machine for the hospital.

The SciFit is like a recumbent elliptical but with a removable seat so those in wheel chairs can also use it to help strengthen their arms and legs.

Erin Schellings, physio assistant at Oilfields, says feedback from patients and staff has been positive.

"Within the first couple weeks of having it one of our therapists said to me, 'what did we ever do before we had this?' it's just like it belongs here," she explains. "Patients really like it, especially the patients who are really wheel chair bound, they love it."

She adds patients are coming over from Rising Sun Long Term Care who are in wheel chairs and are asking to use the machine which is resulting in a significant change for those patients.

Schellings says the support from the Sheep River Health Trust is greatly appreciated.

"It's huge, our department is so busy. We see out patients, in patients, and long term care patients. We're a very busy department out here so having the support of them is just so nice to know that just because we're rural we're not forgotten about out here and that our community and our patients do mean a lot to them."

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