St. Mary’s General Hospital’s brand new MRI machine is up and running

It’s being called a game changer for diagnostic medicine in Waterloo Region.

The first patients have passed through St. Mary’s General Hospital’s (SMGH) new $7.6 million magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.

The region now boasts four MRI machines with two in operation at Grand River Hospital (GRH) in Kitchener and one at Cambridge Memorial.

The added capacity is expected to have a significant impact on wait times.

“We anticipate being able to serve an additional 4,500 patients with the third unit at St. Mary’s” said Natisha Lal, Administrative Director of Imaging and Nuclear Medicine at St. Mary’s and Grand River.

“With that, we’ll able to reduce wait times by up to 50 per cent for low acuity outpatient procedures.”

The two hospitals will work in unison to tackle the backlog which is around six months.

“Referrals will flow to a central intake and we will schedule the patients wherever the access is available first,” added Lal.

Another major benefit will be SMGH patients requiring an MRI will no longer need to be transferred to GRH. This is expected to cut down on staffing costs.

The new 4,000 square foot facility is located near the cardiac clinic at SMGH.