HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE FOR FIRST MRI RECIPIENT AND HUNTSVILLE RESIDENT MONDAY

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

HUNTSVILLE — It was only a knee scan, but Ben Osorio considered himself “lucky” to have an MRI in his hometown Monday.

The Huntsville resident was the first patient to benefit from the state-of-the-art imaging tool hours before it was christened.

Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare opened its new Magnetic Resonance Imaging suite at Huntsville District Memorial Hospital to bring the services to Muskoka after a $10 million fundraising campaign by the Huntsville Hospital Foundation to purchase and build an addition for it.

It is anticipated that the new machine will complete 5,000 MRI scans locally every year.

Ben Osorio is prepped by MRI technologist Muhammad Tajammul for Muskoka’s first MRI scan Monday at Huntsville District Memorial Hospital after a five-year $10 million campaign to bring it here. It is anticipated that the new machine will complete 5,000 MRI scans locally every year. PHOTOS MAHC

According to Cheryl Harrison, MAHC’s president and CEO, the MRI will connect more people to the care they need closer to home.

“This journey started more than five years ago with an application to the Ministry of Health to provide MRI services alongside our District Stroke Centre in Muskoka.

“I am so happy that Muskoka is among the first of the 49 new MRI machines the Ontario government is adding across the province, alongside our District Stroke Centre in Huntsville.

She said MAHC’s clinical teams, physicians and radiologists now have access to a diagnostic tool that will reduce wait times, improve patient outcomes and support timely, local care.

No more long drives out of the region. No more delays in diagnosis. This MRI is changing the game, and I want to thank everyone who made this possible.

It will save patients more than 7,000 hours behind the wheel and 700,000 kilometres of travel to hospitals outside Muskoka.

She added some local patients with requisitions on file at Orillia’s Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital are being contacted to have their MRI in Huntsville.

On hand for the opening were, front left, Tim Miller, Director, Facilities and Operations; Graydon Smith, MPP; Cheryl Harrison, MAHC CEO; Diane George, Vice President of Integrated Care, Patient Services, Quality and CNE; and Dave Uffelmann, MAHC board chair. Back left Scott Aitchison, MP; Rahim Ismaili, manager of diagnostic imaging; Dr. Khaled Abdel-Razek, chief of staff; Noreen Chan, director of Diagnostics and Community Collaboration; Katherine Craine, Huntsville Foundation CEO; and Shelly Mclean, Foundation board chair.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to see the new MRI machine now up and running in Parry Sound-Muskoka,” MPP Graydon Smith said at the opening. “This milestone is a testament to our government’s commitment to strengthening rural healthcare and to the generosity and dedication of our local donors and community partners.

“Their support has been invaluable in making advanced medical imaging accessible right here at home. Faster diagnoses and better care for everyone in Parry Sound-Muskoka are now within reach. I’m proud we delivered on this promise and grateful to everyone who made it possible.”

Katherine Craine, foundation CEP, said 2,460 donations were received from residents, businesses and community groups from South River to Orillia and Haliburton to Parry Sound in only three years.

“We are forever grateful for the investment you’ve made in healthcare, here,” says Craine. “We are really fortunate to live in a region that is so incredibly supportive of healthcare and our hospital.”

 

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