Article content

The B.C. government is buying two privately owned MRI clinics in the Fraser Valley in a bid to expand capacity and reduce waiting times in the public system.

On Monday, Health Minister Adrian Dix announced Fraser Health will purchase Surrey MRI and Fraser Valley MRI Clinic in Abbotsford effective Oct. 1.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Provincial government buys two Fraser Valley MRI clinics Back to video

The acquisition was an imaginative and effective way to boost MRI services in the fast-growing Fraser Valley, which has one of the lowest rates of MRI use per capita in Canada, he said.

“We felt this was the most-efficient, cost-effective and immediate way to respond to wait-times, so that’s precisely what we did,” said Dix. “We were able to purchase these private MRI facilities, turn them around and have them operating in the public health-care system at a cost that is significantly less than building new MRI facilities.”

The purchase will add 10,000 more MRI exams a year at Fraser Health, and bumps up the health authority’s MRIs to nine, including seven currently in operation. In addition, three new MRIs are slated to begin operation next year in Ridge Meadows Hospital, Langley Memorial Hospital and at the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Surrey.