No MRI scanner for Portage la Prairie

WINNIPEG – Doctors in Portage la Prairie have called on the provincial government to purchase an MRI machine for the city’s new hospital, saying the lack of the high-tech diagnostic scanner is a “glaring omission” that will hurt patients.

“Our patient population faces many health inequities, and we worry that not having the foresight to include an MRI scanner will only exacerbate these inequities,” says a letter sent to Premier Wab Kinew that was signed by 35 doctors in the city of 13,000 west of Winnipeg.

The magnetic resonance imaging machine is needed to serve the growing population in Portage and four nearby First Nations, wrote the doctors, who declined to be interviewed, reported the Winnipeg Free Press.

“While our hospital is still under construction, now is the time to rectify this oversight,” said the letter, which was sent in April.

The demand for an MRI at the hospital, which is slated to open in 2025, has grown louder since then.

The local hospital foundation had pledged $5 million toward the cost of the high-tech scanner, while a petition that’s circulating at area businesses has gathered more than 3,000 signatures. Local Progressive Conservative MLA Jeff Bereza is leading the charge.

“If we’re able to do this with the current government, it’s going to save people’s lives,” said the rookie MLA, who was elected Oct. 3, 2023, when the PC government — that didn’t include an MRI in its plans for the Portage hospital — was defeated.

Bereza said the push for the new NDP government to equip the hospital with an MRI “isn’t about partisan politics — it’s about people” and helping to alleviate the median 21-week wait for MRI scans and a waiting list of more than 27,000 Manitobans.

He said he began championing the cause after local physicians convinced him the need for an MRI has increased from what was initially presented.

Portage physicians explained that although there are just 3,000 completed MRI scans for area residents in a year, many more than that needed an MRI and weren’t able to get one because of travel, financial and logistical issues, Bereza said.

“They’re the ones in the know, dealing with this every day,” he said about the doctors. Delayed scans and diagnoses can result in worse outcomes for patients and cost the health-care system more in the long run, he said.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara (pictured) said an MRI machine is not currently in the plans, but it’s not “off the table” in the future.

Although the PCs’ plan for the hospital omitted an MRI, the NDP is listening to the calls from doctors and proponents in Portage to include a scanner, as well as its own experts who are opposed to it, the health minister said.

“There’s real data in terms of how many scans these machines can perform annually and what is the optimal number,” Asagwara said in an interview with the Free Press. “It’s important to recognize that it’s not just about having equipment, it’s also about making sure that you have the necessary and adequate resources — the service and the staff — to ensure that you are able to deliver the appropriate number of scans to maximize the capacity of that technology,” the registered psychiatric nurse said.

“Is it entirely off the table? We’re always assessing, as a government, what the path forward needs to look like in terms of health infrastructure: how do we make sure that patients can get access to the best quality care?” the minister said.

The expert who’s in charge of diagnostic services said now isn’t the time to put an MRI in the Portage hospital, but that could change.

The decision depends on several factors, including how many scans and clinical services are required at sites, which are assessed annually across the province, said Dr. Abdi Sokoro, chief operating officer for provincial diagnostic services.

“Portage is a growing community… Yes, we’re seeing growth, but at the end of the day, not enough to say we can put something into place right now.”

Sokoro said the hospital is being built with the capacity to have an MRI, and in five years, it might be time for Portage to get one.

“Boundary Trails, once upon a time, did not have an MRI, but they got it because they ended up getting an orthopedic surgery program and consolidating work that was coming out of Morden and Winkler and so on. No community is static.”

Boundary Trails is on Highway 3 between the two communities and serves a large catchment area in southern Manitoba.

The Northern Health region, which has a growing population and a growing clinical services “footprint,” is slated for the next MRI investment, the doctor said.

In the last 10 years, hospitals in The Pas and Thompson have grown to include more surgeries and services, he said, “coupled with the fact that more and more patients are being flown to Winnipeg for some things that could end up being done there,” closer to home.

A hospital that has an MRI needs to perform a volume of scans and clinical services to maintain MRI quality and competency, Sokoro said.