MRI Capacity Expanding
13-12-2022
A major thank you going out the Provincial Government, Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie and Essex MPP Anthony Leardi!
In an effort to reduce wait times and tackle a backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Province of Ontario is committing to doubling magnetic resonance imaging or MRI capacity in the Windsor-Essex region.
Thanks to newly approved provincial funding, new MRI machines will be installed at WRH's Ouellette Campus and the Erie Shores HealthCare campus in Leamington - bringing the total number of machines in Windsor-Essex to four.
"We thank the government for its commitment to expanding access to this vitally important diagnostic service for our region and for thousands more patients every year," says WRH President and CEO David Musyj. "Windsor-Essex is a growing population and as we move toward the new acute hospital system in Windsor-Essex it becomes ever more urgent that we increase our MRI availability to our community."
The two current MRI machines located at WRH's Met and Ouellette campuses operate approximately 18 hours each day. The new MRI machines will initially be funded to operate eight hours a day adding approximately 10,000 scans to the system each year.
"I want to thank the Ontario Government and Premier Ford for investing once again in new dollars for health care in Windsor-Essex," says Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie. "Our region's third MRI at the Ouellette Campus of Windsor Regional Hospital will reduce waits for diagnostics and treatment of those of us most in need of care and is a smart investment that I'm proud to support."
In addition to reducing wait times, the new machines will help prevent service halts during maintenance while providing extra capacity during times of high patient volumes.
"This is great news for people living in Essex County," says Essex MPP Anthony Leardi. "My colleagues and I are happy to continue delivering better healthcare for residents of Essex County and the region."
Last year, Windsor Regional Hospital performed more than 22,000 scans, but close to 5,000 non-urgent patients still remain on the wait list with an average wait time of 139 days.
The new MRI machines come as part of a provincial announcement to fund 27 additional machines across Ontario. It's estimated it will take nine to 12 months to get the new MRI machines fully operational subject to any procurement issues.
MEDIA RELEASE