FORT FRANCES — A senior hospital official in the Rainy River District says an incoming MRI scanner is “absolutely amazing” for the hospital in Fort Frances and will help healthcare in the region.
“It means that when you're 82 years old and your 84-year-old husband doesn't have to drive you in December in a snowstorm to an MRI, stay overnight, and have an appointment at 2 or 3 a.m., and then drive you home through the same snowstorm,” said Joanne Ogden, the quality assurance auditor and Ontario health team executive lead at Riverside Health Care.
For people in Fort Frances alone, it’s about 350 kilometres away.
Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford announced funding for the project in Fort Frances on Thursday. The province has also funded new MRI suites in Kenora and Sioux Lookout.
“We’re delivering the full package: capital dollars, operational support and a commitment to care that reflects the needs of the Northwest,” Rickford was quoted as saying in a media release, which added that the support also includes the renovation of just over 1,400 square feet of space to house the MRI.
“Families in Fort Frances, Kenora, Sioux Lookout and beyond will no longer have to make the long drive down the Trans-Canada Highway for MRIs at all hours of the night.”
The capital and operational support totals $3 million, Ogden said. The cost and style of the building expansion hasn’t been finalized yet, and the amount the government would commit to that is still in negotiations, she added.
Both Ogden and the province’s press release said having a state-of-the-art scanner in Fort Frances will also help physicians in the work they do.
Riverside Health Care is also doing its own fundraising, not only toward the MRI, but for a pair of new x-ray machines in the region — one in Fort Frances and one in Rainy River. The organization operates a number of healthcare facilities in Fort Frances, Rainy River and Emo.
The province says the Fort Frances MRI is one of 50 new machines being installed in 43 hospitals across Ontario. Ogden said they’re projecting it to be up and running by late summer or early fall of 2026.
Ogden said the whole district has shown a lot of support for the project, saying that “our 10 municipalities and our 10 area First Nations … all signed a letter (about) moving forward to the minister and the ministry on how important an MRI was in this area.”
She added that the contract for the MRI itself hasn’t been finalized yet, so no details about who they’re purchasing it from can yet be released, but added that it’s an impressive machine.
“It will be, actually, one of the first of its kind in Canada,” she said.
Getting this close to being able to offer MRI services in the region is exciting, given the length of time they’ve been needed, Ogden said.
“It is such a positive move for the Rainy River District,” she said. “It is so long overdue.”
“All of us here are so excited about it.”
