The City of Madisonville and Baptist Health-Deaconess Madisonville are teaming up in the fight against the misuse of opioids.
According to Baptist Health, thanks to a donation from the City of Madisonville’s Opioid Abatement Fund, the Baptist Health0Deaconess Madisonville Foundation was able to purchase a new OEC Elite C-arm from GE Healthcare. That technology will be used in the Interventional and Chronic Pain Management program.
Dr. Vishal Bansal says while multiple safeguards are in place to help prevent misuse of opioids, he often hears concerns from patients about the threat of opioid use disorder. And now, safer treatment options are available.
The new C-arm’s imaging capabilities allow for better accuracy in finding pain generators, allowing patients to receive the treatment they need without traveling to other cities. The investment of just over $160,000 marks the second time opioid abatement funding has been distributed by local government entities for new equipment. Earlier in 2025, members of the Hopkins County Fiscal Court and Opioid Abatement Committee provided funding for a Stryker MultiGen 2 radiofrequency generator for pain treatment.
Dr. Bansal says, “Patients that come in with broken bones, rather than sending them on a prolonged prescription for opioid therapy, I’m able to facilitate an urgent intervention to fix that bone and eliminate the pain. We’ve already had patients whose pain went from a 10-out-of-10 requiring heavy doses of opioids, to now one-out-of-10 with no opioids.”