To bring the best possible Diagnostic Imaging technology to South Georgian Bay, the Foundation has spent the last few years raising funds to update all technology in the Diagnostic Imaging Department. Due to the incredible generosity of our donors in 2022, we met our goal of $2.1 million needed to purchase the new CT scanner for CGMH. This year, we are focusing our fundraising efforts on a $5 million campaign to fund the purchase of our first ever MRI and a modular building in which to house it. This machine will positively impact care for both inpatients and outpatients including those with significant cancer, stroke, orthopaedic, and emergency medical conditions. We sat down with 4 CGMH physicians to learn about the benefits of reduced wait times and how investing in an MRI will end the need for travel for essential imaging care. Right now, our healthcare teams must use other technology that would be otherwise done by MRI. Ultimately it doesn’t give them the proper answer and then many of those patients get referred on to MRI anyway and must go on to travel to Barrie, Owen Sound, or the GTA to try to get more appropriate imaging done. Having excellent healthcare in the region is a priority for all of us. Please consider how you might help equip the Diagnostic Imaging Department at CGMH with state-of-the-art technology that will help reduce wait times and ensure quality care close to home.
“MRI is an essential diagnostic technique that we really need access to on a local level. Right now, if someone needs a specialized examination, they have to sit in the car for close to an hour (at minimum), get to another site, lie on the table, wait to be sure things are clear, and then get sent home. This is versus getting it done locally where we could expedite it and get things done quickly. We are very fortunate in the CGMH area that we have a family health team that works very closely with our Diagnostic Imaging Department. Communication is an essential part of the diagnostic paradigm. A family doctor can call me, explain the situation, I will tell them the correct test to do is an MRI and we’ll get it expedited because we’ve had that person-to-person communication. As soon as you go outside the community, that communication level is lost.”
– Dr. Murray Miller, Chief of Radiology
“A common diagnosis that comes across our desks here in the ICU is the diagnosis of a new neurological disability from something like a stroke, a brain bleed, or a dissection of an artery. MRI technology is the gold standard way to make that diagnosis. When we need that test, patients often have to wait a long period of time to get that done. They have to be transported-which can be quite dicey in the winter months-to get it done elsewhere. If we could do it locally, we could diagnose people quickly and accurately, and start them on proper treatment here in our hospital without a delay in care. For all of our outpatients who are going around with numbness, tingling, headaches, maybe problems in the gallbladder (which is another great area to visualize with an MRI), we can make the diagnosis here locally rather than wasting critical time traveling many kilometers to get this done. Ultimately, less time in hospital means fewer complications and better outcomes.”
– Dr. Mark Bonta, Chief of Internal Medicine Chief of Radiology
“Delays in obtaining MRI imaging sometimes lead to longer suffering, and potentially to injuries that we cannot repair with surgery. In an emergency situation there are many circumstances where we would require an urgent MRI. For example, if a patient has an injury to their spine where it damages the spinal cord, we need to be able to make an accurate diagnosis and be able to treat them as soon as we can. Without an MRI, we have to transfer these patients out to another facility for diagnosis and treatment. If we have an MRI machine in Collingwood, we would be able to help the patient to access care faster and they will be able to return to work or return to sport in a more timely manner.”
– Dr. Olivia Cheng, Chief of Surgery
“MRI is really important in emergency care in Collingwood. We are growing as a centre and seeing more complexity than ever before. MRI is central to management for traumatic spinal cord injury, spinal cord infection, and stroke care. In these types of emergencies, we often cannot get our patients the help they need without an MRI. Having MRI locally can make a big difference for our emergency patients.”
– Dr. Greg Devet, Chief of Emergency Medicine
MRI is an essential part of a modern imaging department. Right now, our healthcare teams must use other technology that would be otherwise done by MRI. Ultimately it doesn’t give them the proper answer and then many of those patients get referred on to MRI anyway and must go on to travel to Barrie, Owen Sound, or GTA to try to get more appropriate imaging done. Having excellent healthcare in the region is a priority for all of us. Please consider how you might help equip the Diagnostic Imaging Department at CGMH with state-of-the-art technology that will help reduce wait times and ensure quality care close to home.
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