Newsroom Toronto, November 7, 2006 — North York General Hospital's Medical Imaging Department announces it is expanding its MRI services to better serve physicians and the patients and families they care for. From November 13, 2006 until March 31, 2007, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, MRI hours of operation are being increased to better meet the needs of referring physicians' for their patients. These additional patient exams will be added during new, expanded hours - from 11:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. only. This expansion of MRI operations was part of a province-wide investment, made September 12, 2006, to improve access to four key health care services as part of the provincial government's Wait Time Strategy. North York General Hospital's Medical Imaging Department received $1,441,400 in additional funding for an additional 3,744 hours, which means 5,616 extra MRI exams can be provided. Many of these new examinations will be done on the hospital's new state-of-the-art high resolution 1.5 Tesla MRI. This MRI machine, weighing 10,000 lbs, was delivered by crane to the Medical Imaging Department at the hospital's General Site (Leslie & Sheppard) - after the old MRI machine was removed through the roof of the 1st floor. "We're delighted to have this opportunity to better meet the needs of our community for basic MRI services," said Cindy Draycott, Director, Medical Imaging & Cardio Respiratory. "When physicians refer a patient who meets the criteria for these MRIs, patients will receive their exams sooner - it's great news that should help reduce people's worries and stress associated with waiting for diagnostic procedures." This expansion of basic MRI services is helping North York General Hospital provide faster and more accurate diagnoses to the 450,000 people in our community. The Medical Imaging Department will be capable of seeing an additional 16 to 24 more MRI patients per day. Patients must be referred by their physician. "The high demand for MRI examinations reflects changes in medical standards of practice, so this increased provincial support is very welcome news for the physicians, patients and families we serve," says Dr. Liz LaMere, Chief, Medical Imaging. "As always, those most in need are prioritized first but our objective is that by being able to provide scanning services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from November 2006 until March 2007 we will reduce our waiting list for elective non-urgent examinations." The new MRI machine also has Breast MRI capabilities. This will expand North York General Hospital's breast diagnostics to give women a better chance to beat breast cancer with more accurate results for improved treatment choices. We are now one of a few hospitals in the GTA to have a MRI with breast imaging capabilities. The Medical Imaging Department has two MRI scanners at the General site, and three Computed Tomography (CT) scanners between the General and Branson sites. General MRI examinations with the new scanner began October 23; Breast MRI services will begin in January 2007. The MRI will join mammography and ultrasound in the comprehensive breast cancer services at North York General Hospital. As always at North York General Hospital, patient safety and satisfaction is a top priority. Accordingly, additional staff have been hired to support this process - both in Medical Imaging as well as additional security personnel. Patients will be asked to park in the General site's main parking lot, south of the main entrance to the hospital. Upon entering the hospital's main doors, via a security buzzer, a security guard will be stationed at the Front Desk to direct patients to Medical Imaging. Referred patients will receive directions and instructions. This second MRI machine is a significant part of our plan to create
a Centre for Medical Imaging Excellence, for which the North
York General Hospital Foundation is working to fundraise $7.4 million.
Medical Imaging positively impacts nearly all areas of the hospital.
Improving our Medical Imaging services ensures we can meet Ministry
of Health priorities, support the increased volumes in our cancer services
with improved diagnoses and support all of our physicians by shortening
wait times for referred patients. North York General Hospital, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is one of Canada's leading community teaching hospitals. Learn more about us. Contact: Colin Longhurst, Media & Communications Specialist, North York General Hospital Phone: (416) 756-6485 Email: clonghur@nygh.on.ca
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