Sudbury's Health Sciences North gets 2nd MRI scanner
The average wait time for an MRI in northern Ontario city is 84 days
Sudbury's Health Science North (HSN) received a special delivery on Sept. 8 that is expected to reduce wait times for patients who require medical imaging.
The hospital's second magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner is expected to be up and running within the next six weeks.
"The need for a second machine has been ongoing," said Anthony Keating, president and CEO of HSN's Foundations. "The current machine that we actually have is about 10 years old. ... we also have a significant backlog and long wait times for individuals who require MRI here in Sudbury."
Keating said the average wait time for an MRI in Sudbury is 84 days, but some patients have waited as long as 300 days for a scan.
The hospital received approval from Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-Term care to purchase a second scanner in early 2020.
HSN also received the green light to retrofit its current MRI scanner, which has been running round the clock. Due to its age, Keating said, the hospital's MRI is often down for maintenance.
"None of us probably have cellphones that are 10 years old or or even cars that are 10 years old," he said. "As the machine gets older, it does require more maintenance."
In the last year, HSN's Foundations increased fundraising efforts and raised $7 million to purchase the new MRI scanner and retrofit the older machine.
"I think it just demonstrates the community's awareness of how important this piece of equipment actually is," Keating said.
The new MRI scanner will be able to perform some scans that were not possible with the older model. Keating said full body scans for pediatric patients will be possible with the new machine, for example. Those patients previously had to travel to Toronto for medical imaging.
The new machine will also allow the hospital to revise its schedules for medical imaging, and avoid unfavourable times, such as 3 a.m. during a snowstorm, as cited in one example.
In a news release last year, when the hospital got approval to purchase a second MRI, Dominic Giroux, HSN's president and CEO, said the purchase would meet a key outcome of their 2019-2024 strategic plan.
"Patients are going to benefit greatly, and we would like to thank the Ministry of Health for granting this approval to operate a second MRI," Giroux said in the release.