P.E.I. wait times for MRIs dropping now that out-of-province scans being covered

The P.E.I. government has begun paying for Islanders to cross the Confederation Bridge to Moncton to receive private MRI scans, in an attempt to cut wait times.

Health P.E.I. says wait times have gone from 17 months to 14 months since the program started about three weeks ago.

The agency's target time is one month, but the demand has been too high to allow many patients to be seen that soon. The only magnetic resonance imaging scanner owned by Health P.E.I. is located at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown.

Back in December, Health P.E.I. announced it would pay for up to 2,600 private scans in Moncton for Islanders on the semi-urgent wait list, as well as covering their travel costs.

Health P.E.I. divides patients into three categories depending on how urgently they need an MRI scan. 

The most recent data from the third quarter shows 82 per cent of patients with the most urgent need will receive a scan within the one-month target date. These patients are scanned within the province.

Prince Edward Island's long wait times for MRIs are getting even longer

3 months ago

Duration 3:04

P.E.I. residents are facing the longest wait times on record for MRI scans, with the current wait for a routine scan sitting at two years. The province says staffing levels will return to normal in the new year, but that in itself won't make the problem — or the long wait lists — disappear.

P.E.I. patients who are the least in need of an MRI can wait for up to two years to receive one, and that scan will take place on the Island.

It's the patients in the middle category of need who are being sent to Moncton at Health P.E.I.'s expense.

Officials at the Charlottetown-based Atlantic Veterinary College recently contacted Health P.E.I. to let the agency know they're open to sharing their MRI scanner, as long as Health P.E.I. has qualified personnel to operate it.