Georgian Bay General Hospital celebrated the grand opening of its new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment on Friday morning, announced as the first of 49 such machines for hospitals across the province.
“A brain aneurysm, for example, can be detected with an MRI in the smallest of millimetres,” said GBGH president and CEO Matthew Lawson told MidlandToday.
“What that means is that we can detect things much faster in terms of individuals. And then with what we’ve proposed and what the Ministry is funding us, essentially we will have enough hours to operate.”
Thanks were extended throughout the newly-constructed building, which GBGH board of directors chair Bernie Uhlich noted was just a dirt pile nine months ago. The hospital expansion of the MRI equipment, building concrete, and other materials were paid through a $4 million campaign from donations by more than 1,800 individuals, businesses and organizations over the past two years.
“Our residents no longer have to travel to Orillia or Barrie for MRI services; they can do it in our community right here, close to home,” said Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop, minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response.
Roughly 100 attendees consisting of staff, dignitaries, donors, volunteers and members of the public applauded loudly throughout the various speeches prior to being led to the MRI unit.
Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said: “The province of Ontario, through your tax dollars, fund the operation of these MRIs but at the end of the day, it’s community support and community engagement and donors that actually make it happen.
“This is the first MRI opening of the 49 that we have announced,” Jones added to a swell of cheers.
Georgian Bay Township Mayor Peter Koetsier called the achievement “terrific” for residents. “It increases our capacity and shortens our drive; it’s fantastic.”
Mayor Ted Walker of Tay Township echoed the comments. “It’s close, and (reduces) patient transfers that have to be taken with a staff complement being assigned. It’s a super thing to have in the area.”