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P.A. open to private MRI clinics: Mayor

May 27, 2015 | 5:31 PM

Prince Albert’s mayor wants the city to be open to private magnetic imaging resonance (MRI) clinics.

There are six machines currently operating in the province, three in Saskatoon, two in Regina and one in Lloydminster but none in Prince Albert. People in the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region join the MRI wait list in Saskatoon.

At the beginning of the month, Health Minister Dustin Duncan introduced legislation that would allow private clinics to offer MRI services starting next year. Patients would pay the clinic directly for MRI scans.

This is aimed at reducing wait times, as there are up to 5,000 people on wait lists for MRI scans.

Mayor Greg Dionne said he feels there should be one in Prince Albert to service the city and the North.

On Monday, he gave notice that he would introduce a motion at the next council meeting to ask administration to look into the zoning implications for a private MRI clinic.

“Whether you agree with the provincial government’s position on allowing private MRI clinics or not, at the end of the day, if they come, I want to make sure that the City of Prince Albert is in the position to welcome any investor or investment group that is interested in putting an MRI in the North,” he said via telephone on Wednesday.

Dionne said the city would be the perfect location for an MRI unit to service, since there’s a new hospital on the horizon and it won’t have an MRI. This is because of the investment the government would have to make in them.

“And so, I see the government’s point where they’re trying to shorten them and give the advantage to the people who can’t afford to pay because if you’re 15th on the list and the top five want to pay for their own at a private clinic, then, all of a sudden, you’re Number 10.

“So there [are] some advantages to them, whether you agree with privatization in health care or not.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames