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Permanent MRI announced for EKRH
By Ian Cobb
e-KNOW
A vital piece in making the East Kootenay Regional Hospital (EKRH) a true regional facility was announced this afternoon.
Health Minister Terry Lake and Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett joined representatives from Interior Health, Kootenay East Regional Hospital District (KERHD), East Kootenay Foundation for Health (EKFH), and Cranbrook Health Care Auxiliary (CHCA) to announce a $5.3 million investment in a permanent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine for EKRH.
“Through the provincial MRI strategy announced last year, we are already seeing significant increases in MRI scans across B.C., including 20% more tests last year at the East Kootenay Regional Hospital,” Lake said. “This announcement paves the way for even more testing closer to home and is great news for all residents of the region.”
Lake credited Bennett and his “dogged determination on behalf of the people of the East Kootenay” for making the day’s announcement happen.
The “valuable diagnostic capability” that a MRI will bring the regional hospital will also reduce wait times and reduce travel for East Kootenay residents if they could not come to Cranbrook to avail Interior Health’s portable MRI, in town one week a month, Lake pointed out.
The installation of a permanent MRI, one of only 25 in the province, will also mean improved access to MRI scans for Interior Health residents as the mobile unit will have freed up time, he added.
Bennett said today’s announcement takes the EKRH “to a new level” and the hospital has come a long way since Maclean magazine anointed the facility one of the poorest rural hospitals in Canada 16 years ago.
“That’s what we inherited in 2001,” said the four-term MLA.
“With this announcement, we continue to build on the long list of investments that have made East Kootenay Regional Hospital a world-class facility,” said Bennett. “Our priority is to give staff and physicians the tools they need to provide excellent care right here in Cranbrook.”
“Recognizing the importance of having a permanent MRI at our regional hospital, the Kootenay East Regional Hospital District included funds ($500,000) in our 2016 Financial Plan hoping this project would become a reality. Today’s announcement is great news for the entire region, and we look forward to the benefits a permanent MRI will create,” said KERHD chair and District of Elkford Mayor Dean McKerracher.
The addition of a MRI “will complete another piece of the puzzle” of turning EKRH into a regional hospital, he said, adding a thank you to Bennett. “Without him we wouldn’t have what we have.”
EKRH chief of staff Dr. Lawrence Jewett also noted a permanent MRI will help complete the picture at the hospital, pointing out it will help retain and attract doctors.
“We’ve had a lot of fantastic doctors come here and then go because they couldn’t do the work they wanted to do. It just doesn’t get any better than this; a new ICU and now a new MRI,” he said, adding to Bennett he promised he wouldn’t bother him “for the next three or four months.”
Dr. Daryn Maisonneuve, director of diagnostics at the hospital, agreed the MRI would be well received by attending and potential doctors, noting applicants always ask about access to a MRI.
Diagnosis and treatment can never come fast enough. Today’s announcement is a very welcome change,” he said, adding the addition of a MRI will also help hospital staff clear “our biggest hurdle in providing regional service.”
The KERHD will provide $2 million to the project, with the Ministry of Health providing another $2 million. The EKFH and CHCA will get to work on raising $650,000 of the remaining $1.3 million.
“East Kootenay Foundation for Health has been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to support a new MRI machine for the region,” said Wes Rogers, Chair of EKFH. “The foundation will be launching our MRI campaign in the weeks ahead and I’m confident our communities will show the same tremendous support they always have for health care initiatives in the East Kootenay.”
“Good health is a basic necessity of a happy life, but sometimes we suffer from illness that is very difficult to diagnose,” said Bonnie Close, Cranbrook Health Care Auxiliary president. “As East Kootenay Regional Hospital is central to many communities in the East Kootenay, it is ideally located for diagnostic equipment such as an MRI. With closer access and reduced wait times, more people will receive earlier diagnoses and quicker treatment. The Cranbrook Health Care Auxiliary is delighted to be able to contribute towards this very worthwhile project and we offer our full support.”
Interior Health board director and Cranbrook resident Dennis Rounsville said he’s heard from many area residents about the need for a permanent MRI and the announcement is “great news indeed. I have no doubt the foundation and health care auxiliary will do their part.”
Interior Health anticipates the permanent MRI will be operational some time in 2018.
When the new MRI machine becomes operational, East Kootenay residents will have consistent weekly access to scheduled MRI testing.
The machine will be located beside the new ICU on the east side of the facility.
The $5.3 million will cover the cost of the new machine and required renovations/additions to create the space at the hospital.
MRI is a safe and painless test that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to produce detailed pictures of the body’s organs and structures.
MRIs are used to diagnose a number of medical conditions, including abnormalities of the brain, as well as tumours, cysts and soft-tissue injuries in other parts of the body. MRI scans are important diagnostic tools that do not use radiation; however, other types of diagnostic imaging – x-ray, ultrasound, or computed tomography (CT) – are more appropriate tools for many types of medical conditions.
The current mobile MRI unit also provides service in Penticton and Trail. Interior Health has MRI units at Kelowna General Hospital and Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
Another permanent MRI machine has been approved for Penticton Regional Hospital thanks to a major community donation through the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation and is expected to become operational in 2019.
Lead image: From left, KERHD board chair Dean McKerracher; Dr. Daryn Maisonneuve, DI medical director; Dr. Lawrence Jewett, EKRH chief of staff; East Kootenay MLA Bill Bennett; CHCA president Bonnie Close; Health Minister Terry Lake; Dennis Rounsville, IH board director; and Wes Rogers, EKFH board chair.
