Private MRI clinics push for public patients in Ottawa-Gatineau

Three private clinics in Gatineau say they can eliminate long wait times for magnetic resonance imaging scans at local public hospitals if the provinces agree to pay the costs.

The St-Joseph MRI, Ottawa Valley MRI and MRI+ clinics in Gatineau's Hull sector approached officials in charge of hospitals in Ottawa and the Outaouais about three months ago, proposing that the hospitals contract out some diagnostic MRI scans to the clinics to cut down on wait times.

'Unfortunately, they told me I would have to wait — 15 minutes.' —Normand Auclair, patient at St-Joseph MRI

MRIs are useful for diagnosing joint and muscle injuries, but wait lists in Ottawa were 65 to 162 days long in December to January according to the province's wait times website.

The list at Hull hospital was 650 patients long last week, and each person on the list could expect to wait six to nine months for a scan, hospital spokesman Denis St-Jean said.

Same-day scans at private clinics

Private clinics such as St-Joseph MRI say they can see patients on the same day they book an appointment.

The clinic opened about a year ago with a $1.5 million MRI scanner, operated by doctors that include four radiologists from the Hull hospital who work at the clinic when they are off duty.

So far, the Ottawa hospitals have not responded the offer, and their Outaouais counterparts say they are not readyto make a decision.

The Outaouais public health agency has said it is ready to collaborate with private providers. In addition, Quebec's Bill 33, which establishes guaranteed wait times for procedures such as hip and knee replacements, and allows for some private health insurance, goes into effect in two months.

The private clinics remain hopeful, but for now continue to rely on patients such as Normand Auclair who are willing to pay about $700 out of their own pocket in exchange for speedy service.

Auclair arrived at the St-Joseph MRI clinic last April, two days after he visited his doctor about a persistent pain in his knee.

"Unfortunately, they told me I would have to wait — 15 minutes," Auclair told CBC's French-language service Radio-Canada in French.

Hull hospital doubles capacity

Hassan Magadam, director of St-Joseph MRI, said he has lots of room for more patients.

And MRI+'s James Nicol, whose clinic employs three radiologists from Montfort Hospital in Ottawa, estimates he could take 25 more each day.

In recent weeks, the Hull hospital doubled its own capacity to 24 scans a day from 12 and cut down on wait times by running the MRI machines for extra hours during the evening.