Nova Scotia to add new MRI machines in effort to cut down significant backlogs

The Nova Scotia Government has announced it will be adding two MRIs to its healthcare system as it attempts to cut down significant backlogs for patients.

On Friday, the province announced four new MRI machines will be added to the system, with two of those replacing older machines as part of the QEII Halifax Infirmary expansion project. The first is expected to be delivered by the end of June and the second later this year.

According to the province, a new machine purchased through donations to the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation will be in service next month.

“Patients whose concerns are not as urgent as others are waiting too long for this important diagnostic testing,” Dr. James Clarke, Head of Diagnostic Imaging, Central Zone, Nova Scotia Health, said. “By working with government, foundation partners and business, we are using every avenue to make this care more accessible and timelier to those who need it.”

The current wait times for MRI appointments in the province range from the low end of 105 days for 90 percent of patients at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish to 513 days at the QEII Hospital for 90 percent of patients who needed an MRI for bones and joints.

Meantime, the province said Nova Scotia Health will also enter into a five-year, $7.6-million agreement with a private clinic, Healthview Medical Imaging in Halifax, to provide publicly funded MRI and ultrasound scans.