Deanna Salo, Radiation Center Manager

"In 1994, I got my first job in healthcare with the Saginaw General Radiology group in their office on Shattuck Road. I started out in the billing department with my role later expanding to a Tech Aid, where I assisted the x-ray technicians with procedures, exams and developing films. This job introduced me to the field and inspired me to apply to the Radiography program at Delta College.

I was exposed to both Saginaw General and St. Luke's during my clinical rotations as a Radiography student in 1998, which is also the year the merger forming Covenant HealthCare took place. Being a student during the merger was a little tricky because the two facilities were still fairly separated, and a lot of the staff were worried about how it was going to go.

It seemed so silly to me that the hospitals were right across the road from one another, existing as separate entities. Combining services and resources from both facilities was huge for the community.

When I wasn’t in class or in clinicals, I also worked as an X-ray Transporter for the imaging team at St. Luke's. We were responsible for getting patients from their rooms to and from their diagnostic studies. That position was a really great opportunity to learn the campus and gave me a good footing for getting around in the hospital and meeting people in other departments.

I ended up meeting my husband in the X-ray department at St. Luke’s Hospital. He had just graduated from his Radiology program when I was a student. We both stayed in the department for a couple of years before proceeding to other opportunities within the hospital "

Pictured: Deanna Salo's Student ID and Photo

"I had to go to the emergency room for a health issue when I was a Radiography student at Delta College. The merger was just taking place at the time.

I was admitted to the Covenant HealthCare Cooper building (previously St. Luke's) and had to have a minor surgery at the Covenant Harrison building (previously Saginaw General). The Skywalk connecting the two facilities hadn't been constructed yet, so I was transported by ambulance across the street for my surgery.

Because of my hospital stay, I missed the rotation where my class went to St. Mary's to observe Radiation Therapy. My clinical instructor, Howard Rankins, knew that there was a new radiation center opening at what is now the Covenant HealthCare Mackinaw Campus. He arranged for me to come on my own to tour this new center to make up for my missed rotation.

I got along very well with the staff at the new center. They told me they would be putting a few people through a one-year accelerator program and that I would be a good fit. So, my ailment actually gave me a really good opportunity!

I was accepted to the program and worked third shift x-ray at the 'New Covenant' on main campus while I went to school for Radiation Therapy.

After completing the one-year program, I was hired at the Mackinaw center, which at the time was called the Saginaw Radiation Oncology Center (SROC)—a tri-venture with Bay Medical, Covenant HealthCare and MidMichigan. The partnership disbanded and became solely Covenant in 2014.

Today, I am the Covenant Radiation Center Manager. I've established so many relationships and have worked with so many people over the last 20 plus years. I still work with some x-ray colleagues from my early days with the organization, just in a different capacity.

I think it was fate that I ended up at this facility as a learner. It just feels like home. "

Pictured: Deanna Salo's Badge Collection

Pictured: Photo Collage of Deanna Salo

"I recently had to take my daughter to the ER to have an x-ray, and I was amazed at the technology. Imaging capabilities have advanced so much, it feels like dinosaur ages ago when I first started.

We used to have dark rooms dedicated to developing x-rays. The radiologists would then view the x-ray films in reading rooms using a machine called an alternator. These machines spanned from floor to ceiling and were probably five to six feet wide. It was a beast—like a huge, oversized filing cabinet.

Alternators were equipped with a large light that would luminate panels on a conveyor belt that helped us view the x-rays. One of my jobs was loading and unloading the alternator with patient x-rays and paper requisitions that had all the patient's information on it. The doctor would read the case, and if there were additional x-ray views needed, the doctor would note it on the requisition, and you'd have to call the patient back for more films—very primitive.

When ready, the doctor would push a button, and the conveyor belt would bring down the next panel with another patient's study. Sometimes, the films would get stuck in the alternator. Every once in a while, you'd hear this crinkling and you'd think, 'Oh no! I hope the film is salvageable.'

Once the studies were read by the radiologist, you would place the x-rays in film jackets to be stored in a huge filing system. Today, these films/studies are stored digitally on our picture archiving and communication (PACS) system... I am sure there are still a few old films in the basement.

When I mention this today, new students and technologists don't even know what I'm talking about."

Pictured: Deanna Salo Viewing X-ray

"I've been here for quite a few big steps for Covenant HealthCare. I saw the merger take place. I was there when the Covenant HealthCare Radiation Center first opened. Most recently, I've played a large role in the opening of the new Covenant Regional Thumb Network (CRTN) Cancer Care Center in Marlette.

We realized that 30 percent of our patient volume at the Covenant Cancer Care Center at our Mackinaw facility was coming from the Marlette area. There was a clear need for an expansion of these services into the 'Thumb' region.

On average, radiation therapy patients spend six to eight weeks in treatment, traveling back and forth every day. That's a real toll on you when you're not feeling well and have other appointments.

Earlier this year, Covenant opened the CRTN Cancer Care Center, which is a comprehensive facility offering medical oncology, chemotherapy infusion and radiation therapy. It was really exciting to see that project take shape and bring these offerings to the community so patients can receive the same high-quality cancer care much closer to home.

After all these years, I am still here and am proud to be part of the growth and extraordinary care that Covenant continues to provide for our community and beyond."

—Deanna Salo, Covenant HealthCare Radiation Center Manager (Former Radiography Student, Saginaw General & St. Luke’s Hospitals)

Pictured: Deanna Salo, Covenant HealthCare Radiation Center Manager
(Former Radiography Student, Saginaw General & St. Luke’s Hospitals)

Pictured: Covenant Radiation Center Staff