An MRI machine is coming to the Kincardine Hospital.
This week, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson joined South Bruce Grey Health Centre’s (SBGHC) virtual Community Information Session Kincardine hospital to make the announcement.
SBGHC’s Kincardine hospital site will be home to one of 27 new MRI machines in hospitals across Ontario as the provincial government puts over over $20 million into improving access to diagnostic imaging services and reduce wait times.
A release says, SBGHC was the first rural hospital in Canada to install a CT scanner, which was at the Walkerton hospital, and is now among the first rural hospitals to get an MRI machine.
SBGHC President and CEO Michael Barrett says in a statement, “Accessing MRI services in a timely fashion in this part of Grey and Bruce Counties has been a challenge, and the installation of a new MRI at the Kincardine hospital will provide a tremendous benefit to the Kincardine community, and the larger geography of southern Bruce and Grey Counties,”
Thompson says, “Expanding access to diagnostic care is critical in rural Ontario where so many have to travel long distances to receive these services.”
The MRI is in addition to the upcoming installation of a new computed tomography (CT) scanner at the Kincardine hospital which is expected to become operational for patients in March 2023.
SBGHC says it will now take the necessary steps to incorporate the MRI into the plans for the Kincardine hospital expansion project, and updates will be shared with the community as the plan progresses.
The release says, CT and MRI are both specialized medical imaging methods, used to create detailed images of internal body structures which they each achieve in different ways. A CT scan uses ionizing radiation (X-Rays), while MRI uses strong magnetic fields and radio frequency.
A CT is commonly utilized to view boney anatomy, to diagnosing lung pathology, and is presently the modality of choice for cancer diagnosis and follow-up, as well as assess vascular diseases. CT is commonly used to support emergency medicine because most scans take mere minutes.
An MRI excels at evaluating soft tissue and organs particularly neuro anatomy such as brain and spinal cord. Other examples of utilization include ligament and tendons and breast.