After years of having to offload patients elsewhere, St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital (STEGH) is finally set to receive its own magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.
Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek shared the news during a Thursday morning media conference outside the hospital.
“This is a number of years’ work, but how this will change the face of medical care in our community is immense,” Yurek told Global News.
Yurek says that work involved fundraising support from the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital Foundation, an endorsement from STEGH’s board and a medical team at the hospital that’s ready to hit the ground running.
“For me, it was consistent conversations with the Minister of Health and her chief of staff over the last three-plus years trying to make this happen,” Yurek added.
“Thankfully, they saw the benefit of doing this investment here in St. Thomas.”
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The province’s share of the funding is tied to a $30 million investment in the 2021 budget to support MRI services across Ontario.
STEGH president and CEO Karen Davies describes the MRI machine as an important tool in diagnostic imaging, especially for the hospital’s integrated stroke unit.
Davies says having a machine of their own will bring a lot of relief to a lot of people.
“To not have to move patients to Woodstock or London for an MRI is significant, not only for that patient in the moment, but for the care team as well, and in the pressures that it puts onto other hospitals when we depend so highly on them,” Davies said.
She adds that STEGH has been anticipating the announcement for some time and already had the space available to support an MRI machine.
“We’re looking at within a year, we’ll have our first patient in the MRI unit.”
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