Kitchener hospital to get new MRI machine after successful $10M fundraising campaign

St. Mary’s General Hospital is finally getting an MRI machine of its own after a successful year-long fundraising drive it ran with Grand River Hospital raised $10 million.

On Monday, the Kitchener hospitals announced the news, saying that $7.6 million would go to the MRI Machines at SMGH while the remaining  $2.4 million would go to upgrading one of two MRI machines at GRH.

“Our community recognized the need and stepped up in a big way — for healthcare and for this region,” said SMGH president Susan Dudick.

“This shared success shows us that when communities come together for a cause, great things happen.”

SMGH, which serves as the area’s cardiac centre, was the last in the province without an MRI machine.

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Meanwhile, one of GRH’s machines was upgraded in 2022 and is capable of producing up to 17,000 scans per year.

This round of funding will boost the number of scans the second one produces by 4,500, according to the hospitals, which add that the MRI addition and upgrades will result in shorter wait times.

“This second MRI machine will help us to reduce wait times for elective outpatient cases by more than half, from seven months to 90 days or less,” Grand River Hospital’s Natisha Lal said in a release.

Construction on the new machine at St. Mary’s General Hospital will begin in July with the first patients being treated next January.

While MRI fundraising efforts have come to an end for the hospitals, they noted that Cambridge Memorial Hospital currently has an MRI fundraising effort of its own underway.