MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex Monte McNaughton announced today the Middlesex Hospital Alliance will be getting its first Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine. The Alliance is getting an $800,000 grant to its annual budget to pay for it. The Alliance said Strathroy Hospital was selected to receive the MRI machine, which would be the first in the facility’s history. The funding from the Ontario gevernment will cover the operation of the MRI, but the cost of the actual machine will have to be fundraised for and the Alliance has said it will work with the Strathroy hospital foundation and their partners to look at funding for the MRI and the suite that the machine will be kept in.
The new imaging machine scans the inside of the body to find diseases and injuries. This will help cut down wait times and save residents from traveling to other cities explained McNaughton.
“What this means for local residents is that access will be improved. There will be faster screening,” McNaughton said. “But most importantly, this will be done closer to home. It really will be life-changing for people.”
The announcement is apart of the additional $20 Million in funding from the Ontario Governments to provide support in operating 27 MRI machines throughout the province. The Hospital is in charge of buying the machine but the government will help pay to operate it.
“This will be an annual increase in the hospital’s base budget to operate an MRI machine, and the local hospital is preparing to purchase it,” he said.
written by: K. Close