KENORA — An MRI machine at Lake of the Woods District Hospital will be a leap forward in local health care, says the region’s member of provincial parliament.
“Oh, we’re just thrilled,” Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford told Newswatch this week after the Ontario government announced it will put up $7.6 million to build a state-of-the art magnetic resonance imaging suite at the hospital for Kenora’s first-ever MRI machine.
The machine, once it’s installed and running, will greatly improve locals’ access to diagnostic imaging services and reduce wait times in Kenora, he said.
Area residents will no longer have to travel to Thunder Bay – more than five hours from Kenora by road – for an MRI scan.
“The Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation has an incredible group of people whose philanthropic investments have helped cover capital costs associated with the MRI,” Rickford said.
“And we have … some fantastic people there that are ready to do this, so it’s going to happen very quickly and we’re very happy.”
Rickford added that MRI services in Kenora will have the added benefit of easing the burden on the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s diagnostic imaging department, currently the only place to get an MRI in Northwestern Ontario.
“So this is going to be great for all of Northwestern Ontario, and it will ease the burden here and open up service capacity for people living closer to Thunder Bay,” he said.
About 145 square metres of existing Lake of the Woods District Hospital space will be renovated for the MRI suite.
The addition of MRI services “will transform the way we practise in our hospital,” Dr. Catherine Murray, the hospital’s chief radiologist, said in a news release issued by the hospital.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said in a government news release the MRI machine will make it “easier and faster for more families across Northwestern Ontario to access key diagnostic services in their community for years to come.”
