Residents of the North West will no longer have to travel to the coast to access magnetic resonance imaging scans after the installation of the city’s first MRI scanner.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Located at I-MED Radiology in the Mount Isa Hospital, the gleaming new $4 million MRI facility is an important medical diagnostic tool particularly useful for imaging soft tissues such as internal organs like the brain and spinal cord, ligaments and muscles, liver and pelvic organs and other tissues that don’t show up well on X-ray or computed tomography (CT) examinations.
Officially opening the facility on Wednesday, state member for Mount Isa Robbie Katter praised the state-of-the-art health addition in the North West.
“I’m delighted to see better health access for the people of the bush with the installation of the MRI scanner,” Mr Katter said.
“We will now get people through a lot faster and speed up the process of having scans to diagnose a problem.”
Bronwyn Nicholson, General Manager of I-MED Radiology Queensland, said they were proud to be able collaborate with the North West Hospital and Health Service (NWHHS) to provide this important service.
“This is a significant boost to local health services and we are thrilled to be able to ensure the highest standard of medical imaging is available to North West patients and doctors,” Ms Nicholson said.
NWHHS chief executive Lisa Davies Jones said they were delighted to contribute towards improving local MRI access.
“We are pleased to have been able to support this goal of improving overall services with additional funding of $270,000 by the NWHHS for the best available technology,” Ms Davies Jones said.
The redevelopment of the I-MED Radiology clinic represents an investment of $4 million which includes the installation of a new state-of- the-art CT scanner.
Clinic Director, Dr Holger Bourquain said MRI scanners delivered highly detailed and accurate images that are particularly useful in helping identify a range of nerve, muscle and bone injuries and conditions.