The province announced 37,000 more MRI exams will be done in the province by the end of March 2019. Photo courtesy CBC.
The effort to lower wait times in hospitals around B.C. continues as the province announced 37,000 more magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams will be done by the end of March 2019.
The health-care system is getting an additional $11 million dollars to complete 225,000 MRI exams in the next year, compared to 188,000 in 2017-18, under the B.C. surgical and diagnostic strategy.
The government estimates Island Health will see 48,000 MRI exams in the next year, an increase of 26.3 per cent compared to the year before.
The province says nine out of 10 Island Health patients wait up to 160 days to get an exam, with half getting in within 45 days.
To reach the added MRI target, existing machines will operate longer, establish intake at a regional level that will reduce duplicate referrals and appointments, install already planned MRI machines and adding more capacity in the public system.
Health Minister Adrian Dix was in Surrey to make the announcement.
“Increasing MRI exams by 37,000 exams in B.C. this year, with further increases planned for 2019-20, will reduce the uncertainty and pain caused by long waits,” Dix said in a statement.
MRIs are used to help diagnose a number of medical conditions, including abnormalities of the brain, tumours, cysts and soft-tissue injuries in other parts of the body.
Last week, Premier John Horgan announced 9,400 more surgeries will be done in the next year, starting with hip and knee replacement and dental surgeries.
Andy Neal
