Whitehorse hospital's $6.8M MRI machine delivered by crane

The first MRI machine in Canada's northern territories was lowered into place by crane Friday morning at Whitehorse General Hospital.

The hospitals in Yellowknife and Iqaluit each have CT scanners, but no MRI.

The Yukon Hospital Foundation raised $2 million towards the $6.8 million cost of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine, with the Yukon government paying the rest.

Tanya Solberg, manager of the medical imaging department at the hospital, says being able to provide MRI scans in the Yukon provides a big advantage for the hospital and its patients.

"MRI is really good for detecting soft tissue injuries, so we'll see a lot of need for it when we're doing brains and spines," she said.

She said when patients have an injury, doctors will now be able to see more than broken bones and detect if there's ligament or tendon damage as well. 

"To be able to have that diagnosis here and not have to get on a plane is huge for our patients," she said.

With the MRI now in place, it is expected the first patients will be scanned by mid-January.

Yukon Hospital Corporation chair Craig Tuton says they hope to offer the service to people outside the territory as well.

"I think maybe southeast Alaska, maybe the Northwest Territories, northern B.C., northern Alberta; there's always those possibilities and we're going to be actively looking at that," he said.​