Dr. Cam Hunter was all smiles as the one piece of equipment he has been waiting for the majority of his career at finally arrived. A brand new state-of-the-art MRI was delivered to the North Bay Regional Health Centre Friday morning not only to the delight of Hunter but to the staff, administration and the public at large.
Folks packed into the auditorium to watch the MRI being loaded into the building via a live video stream.
Full details contained in the news release below.
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Today the brand new state-of-the-art MRI was delivered to the North Bay Regional Health Centre. Live video of the MRI being loaded into the building was streamed to a gathering of community members and staff who congregated in the auditorium of the new health centre.
Ted Thomson, Co-Chair of the Seeing More Clearly campaign says campaign volunteers are looking to North Bay and district communities to help reach the goal of six million dollars. "The hospital has borrowed the funds to ensure our new hospital has the state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging equipment we need to save lives now," Thomson says. "This new equipment will allow us to see inside the human body more clearly, ensuring more accurate and timely diagnoses - close to home."
Ted Hargreaves, Honourary Co-Chair of the Seeing More Clearly campaign announced to the crowd the Lead Gift of $1.5M from the Terry McKerrow Cat Scan Trust Fund. This gift will benefit every citizen in our district.
"My husband Terry McKerrow would be so proud to see our district take a giant step forward in diagnostic imaging services," says Norah McKerrow.
"I am thrilled to see that our MRI has arrived at the North Bay Regional Health Centre," says Monique Smith, MPP for Nipissing. "It is a wonderful addition to our state-of-the-art facility and I am so pleased that our provincial government has approved the $800,000 annual operating funding. I look forward to our MRI becoming operational, and providing a much needed service to the residents of Nipissing, and the region."
Seeing More Clearly: A campaign for an MRI and more, is led by a group of 40 community volunteers who are committed to this exciting fundraising initiative. Al McDonald, Campaign Co-Chair says "We are inviting everyone to be part of this exciting community drive. The government has provided the operational dollars for the MRI and other diagnostic imaging equipment, we are asking our district to support the community share of the capital expense."
This is not only the first Toshiba MRI in Canada; it is the first of this model in North America and is at the leading-edge of technology. Dr. William Hodge, Radiologist says the MRI will enable us to offer advanced levels of diagnostic care. "We will take small steps at first and in months to come be able to offer the full range of the MRI capability," Dr. Hodge explains.
Tammy Morison, Campaign Director says the Seeing More Clearly campaign is not just a campaign for an MRI-the district is focusing on a number of other essential pieces of diagnostic imaging equipment.
"Our district needs include digital Mammography, a SPECT/CT machine for Nuclear Medicine, digital Angiography and Fluoroscopy, five digital Radiography Suites (including one dedicated for Trauma and one for the Urology Operating Suite)," Morison says. "This equipment is essential for our hospital to fulfill its district role."
The MRI will be in operation sometime in April. Initially, the MRI will be scanning patients 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. As operational proficiency increases we will see a reduction in the number of patients required to travel, and shorter wait times.
