Four new MRI machines will be making way to four cities in B.C., allowing 65,000 more scans each year.
The four machines, are set to be installed in 2018, in Ridge Meadows Hospital in Maple Ridge, Vernon Jubilee Hospital, Nanaimo Regional Hospital and the Jim Pattison Outpatient and Surgical Centre in Surrey.
The new machines, announced by Health Minister Terry Lake on Thursday, are expected to relieve the rising number of scans needed. This year, 177,000 scans are expected. This compares to 2001, when 37,000 scans occurred.
Each MRI machine costs about $5 million.
Currently, there are 25 MRI machines across the province.
In addition to the MRI machines, a boost of $25 million was announced, to be shared amongst health authorities for surgical procedures, in order to decrease the number of British Colombians on waitlists.
Approximately 572,000 surgical procedures were performed in B.C. last year. From previous funding of the same amount, health authorities completed more than 5,000 additional surgeries.
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