The B.C. government is setting aside an additional $11 million to increase the number of MRIs conducted in the province to 225,000 in 2018-2019. B.C.'s health minister says the outlay should improve wait times. Half of patients in the province wait more than 41 days for an MRI, while 10% wait 200 days or more. He adds that access is an issue in B.C. as well, with the per capita rate for MRI exams at 37 per 1,000 people in FY2016-2017, one-third less than the national average. The increased targets will be achieved by operating existing machines longer to accommodate more patients, installing already planned machines and by adding more of them to the public healthcare system. Centralized regional registries will be created to weed out duplicate referrals and appointments, prevent wasted operating time and offer patients the earliest appointment available.
NBHC Sustainability