FORT FRANCES — If you live in the Fort Frances area and you need an MRI scan, you’ll have to travel hundreds of kilometres to have it done.
Riverside Health Care, which runs facilities in the Rainy River district, aims to change that by bringing magnetic resonance imaging to the border town’s hospital.
The new Lights, Camera, Diagnosis fundraising campaign is also designed to fund digital radiography units at Rainy River’s hospital as well as Fort Frances'.
Currently people in the area who need MRI scans travel primarily to Thunder Bay, or sometimes to another Ontario city or Winnipeg, Riverside spokesperson Kathryn Pierroz told Newswatch.
The province announced funding to bring MRI services to Kenora’s hospital last November, and then in late January it announced funding for a future MRI suite in Sioux Lookout.
Those developments will help increase access to MRI diagnostics in Northwestern Ontario, but “having an MRI machine in Fort Frances … (would) save district residents a great deal of travel,” said Dr. Lucas Keffer, Riverside’s chief of staff.
“Our communities deserve access to the best health care possible,” said Holly Kaemingh, Riverside’s fundraising director.
“With the addition of an MRI and new digital radiography units, we’ll be able to deliver cutting-edge diagnostic services without the need for patients to travel.”
The campaign’s fundraising goal is $1.6 million to help fund the MRI and digital radiography. Kaemingh said additional funding would have to come from the province.
Kaemingh said no date has been set for the campaign’s closing yet, but “I’m hoping obviously everything comes in as soon as possible.”
A 50/50 draw will be part of the campaign, she said Friday.
“I’ve gotten a lot of community feedback and there’s a lot of excitement around a 50/50 draw, so that is in the works, as well as online donations.
“I’m just working to get all of that in place, but definitely we’ve got lots of fun ideas coming up.”
La Verendrye General Hospital in Fort Frances currently has a range of diagnostic services that includes fluoroscopy, ultrasound, mammograms, x-rays and CT (computed tomography) – but not MRI.
The planned addition to diagnostic services at the Rainy River Health Centre are significant, according to Riverside Health Care.
“Digital radiography enhances patient care by providing faster, clearer images with lower radiation exposure, enabling quicker diagnosis and treatment,” Riverside’s director of diagnostic services, Andrea Faragher, said in a news release.
“Bringing this upgraded technology to Rainy River Health Centre means patients are getting the gold standard of care with their imaging.”
Information on the campaign can be found at Riverside’s website and on social media.
