New MRI is  ready to  roll  – photo courtesy Northern Health

Prince George, B.C.- The first of three new MRIs  for the Northern Health region is now fully installed at the University Hospital of Northern B.C.

The new MRI at UHNBC (pictured above) replaces the facility’s 14-year old unit, with significantly upgraded technology.

Two more MRI installation projects are underway at other NH facilities: Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace, and Fort St. John Hospital & Health Centre. These new MRI units, tripling the number of MRI’s in the Northern Health region, go into service this summer and fall. They will significantly improve access and wait times, and bring services closer to home for residents across the region.

Diagnostic imaging staff from the northeast and northwest received additional training to support the new MRIs in Terrace and Fort St. John, which are each slated to do two thousand scans in their first year of operation.

UHNBC is expected to increase to seven thousand MRIs, up from the current six thousand scans performed each year. MRIs are a tool used by physicians and specialists to assist in making a diagnosis.