Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) hopes to add a very important diagnostic tool to its medical kit.
The Midland hospital recently applied to the province to secure one of 14 spots across Ontario that will receive funding to start offering MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) services.
While a final decision on when or where the province will begin funding MRI services isn’t known, GBGH president and CEO Gail Hunt said her organization recently submitted a strong application outlining why the Midland hospital should be near the front of the line.
“We’re the largest acute care hospital in the province that does not currently have an MRI or commitment for one,” Hunt said. “And the fact that we're serving other organizations like Waypoint (Centre for Mental Health Care) and the CNCC (Central North Correctional Centre) in the community makes it even more important to have something very close to home.”
The hospital’s application seeks approval for 3,900 operational hours, which would equate to roughly $1 million in annual funding. Capital costs to buy the actual machine and renovate a room near the hospital’s diagnostic imaging department would cost in the $4-million range.
“The individual hospitals and communities are expected to raise the capital funds for the purchase and any renovations,” Hunt said. “We have an existing space, which is ideally located and we can accommodate that renovation quite well.”
For its part, the province’s Ministry of Health would provide funding for the hours of operation.
“So with 3,900 hours of operations, we will be able to meet that demand that we're currently anticipating,” Hunt said, noting the hospital’s foundation is excited for the opportunity to raise the needed capital funds.
Hunt said that by using postal code data, the hospital was able to identify close to 4,000 local residents, who make the trip to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie, Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital and sometimes even farther afield to have an MRI procedure on an annual basis.
“And that doesn't capture anybody who's a seasonal resident because their postal code would be the GTA area,” Hunt said, adding that having a machine locally would also reduce waiting times.
An MRI is a non-invasive medical imaging exam that helps radiologists to diagnose a variety of diseases, including cancer. An MRI machine uses a powerful magnetic field, radio frequency pulses and a computer to produce detailed pictures of organs, soft tissues, bone and other structures inside the body.
Dr. Nick Loughheed, GBGH's chief of radiology, said offering MRI services in-house would have a significant impact on the community.
“As a radiologist, I cannot stress enough the importance of local patient access to MRI services in the north Simcoe area,” Lougheed said. “Currently, patients in Midland, Penetanguishene and surrounding communities must travel significant distances for an MRI and often the wait-lists are months long.”
Loughheed said both wait times and travel are barriers to access for patients who need these important diagnostic imaging procedures in a timely manner and within their community.
“This is of particular concern when serious conditions, which could be detected through an MRI, are suspected,” he said. “The commitment of an MRI to GBGH would be transformative to residents in the region GBGH serves.”
Hunt said fundraising would begin as soon as GBGH gets ministry approval with the anticipated time between approval and actually operating the machine falling in the 12- to 17-month range.
Hunt noted the hospital also serves a fairly large Indigenous population and high elderly population, making it ideal for approval.
She said it would also save money on staffing for not only GBGH, but also Waypoint and CNCC since staff must accompany patients and inmates in a patient-transfer vehicle when they have to travel for an MRI procedure.
“That reduction in cost will be significant," Hunt said.
Unlike a computerized tomography (CT) scan or general X-ray, no ionizing radiation is involved with an MRI, according to the Ontario Association of Radiologists.
"In many cases, MRI gives different information about structure in the body than can be seen with an X-ray, ultrasound or CT scan," the association noted. "MRI also may show problems that cannot be seen with other imaging methods. This information is then sent to a computer, which processes all the signals and generates it into an image.
"The final product is a 3-D image representation of the area being examined. These images can then be displayed and examined on a computer monitor, transmitted electronically, printed, or copied to a CD."