Steinbach MLA and Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Kelvin Goertzen, announced that the province is investing more than $3.4 million to purchase and install a replacement magnetic resonance imager (MRI) at the Brandon Regional Health Centre.
“Investments in replacement equipment ensure patients have access to the best possible diagnostic care,” said Goertzen. “Once installed, the new equipment will make a real difference for patients in Brandon and the surrounding area.”
The current scanner, which provided more than 9,000 procedures last year, is more than 10 years old and needs repairs more frequently. The new scanner will be larger, reducing problems with claustrophobia for patients and allowing technologists to scan multiple body areas without moving or repositioning the patient.
“Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) is very pleased that enhanced digital imaging capability will be available for residents of Brandon and the surrounding area,” said Dr. Shaun Gauthier, vice-president of medical and diagnostic services, PMH. “With scans able to be done more quickly, more patients can be scanned in one day and it will ultimately improve the experience for patients as the tunnel that patients go into for their scans is much larger.”
Total costs for the project include $2.9 million in equipment costs and nearly $490,000 in capital construction costs for the installation.
MRI scanners produce images of all areas of the body and commonly include images of the brain and spinal cord, muscles, bones, connective tissue, organs such as the liver, kidneys and heart, breast, prostate and blood vessels.
A temporary mobile MRI unit will be on site near the end of March to continue to scan patients while construction and installation of the new unit takes place.
The region will be further advising patients, staff, and the general public about how people can access the mobile unit when it is ready scan patients.
Work on the installation of the new unit is expected to begin in April 2017 and completion is estimated for later this summer, the minister noted.
