Erie Shores HealthCare in Leamington is celebrating the hospital's 1,000th MRI test conducted inside its mobile MRI unit.
The mobile unit became operational in May 2024 to help reduce the backlog of cases across the region while work is completed on the permanent MRI suite.
Kristin Kennedy, President and CEO of ESHC, told AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg that this is a big deal for the hospital.
"One thousand MRIs translates into about three to four weeks of decreased wait times in Windsor and Essex County," she says.
On Oct. 23, 2023, a cyber attack impacted five hospitals across Southwestern Ontario, including Windsor Regional Hospital, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare in Windsor, and Erie Shores HealthCare in Leamington.
The system used to electronically store images and reports for diagnostic imaging such as CTs and MRIs was impacted as a result of the attack.
The hospitals were able to continue emergent and urgent priority exams during the disruption in service, but Priority 4 or lower priority cases were impacted.
Prior to the cyberattack, wait times for those cases were approximately 11 months.
Kennedy says the current wait time for lower priority cases is around 9 months to a year.
"We've cut that by around a month, but we understand obviously that new tests are coming in every day," she says. "We are working closely with the Ministry of Health to see if we may be able to expand our hours in the new year, which would also be great news."
Kennedy says work is moving along on the permanent MRI suite.
"Next week, October 23, the magnet will arrive, which is the 17,000-pound structure that will be craned into the permanent structure in the hospital," she says. "It will allow us to do the final stages of construction with the goal of opening mid-December, we hope."
Once the permanent MRI unit is open, it will operate 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, and is expected to perform between 1,000 and 1,500 tests per year, reducing the need for patients to travel to other regions for MRI tests for access to vital diagnostic services.
In December 2022, the Ontario government announced it would provide over $800,000 in annual funding to operate the cutting-edge MRI scanner, but fundraising will be necessary to cover the cost of the $5 million MRI machine and the facility upgrades.
"Since the launch of the Your Health plan last year, our government has added 49 new MRI machines in 42 hospitals across the province to increase the number of MRI scans being done each year and reduce wait times for surgeries and procedures," said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. "The completion of Erie Shores 1,000th MRI test in its mobile suite is a major milestone in expanding local access to timely diagnostic imaging and connecting people and families in the community to quality care, close to home."