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Average wait times for MRI scans in Calgary hospitals have increased by 20 per cent in Calgary over the past year.

That’s led Alberta Health Services officials to determine if too many non-urgent diagnostic procedures are being done.

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While the average wait for an MRI scan in a public facility has grown from 14.9 weeks in June 2105 to 18 weeks a year later, the number of weeks it took for 90 per cent of patients to receive the service went from 24 to 35 weeks.

Those numbers are driven by a 13.5 per cent increase since last January in non-urgent scans, said AHS spokesman Colin Zak.

“Specifically, there has been a steep increase in the number of followup MRI scans, resulting in longer waits for elective/non-urgent patients,” Zak said in an email.

At the same time, demand for non-urgent and elective procedures in Edmonton has remained largely unchanged.

AHS officials say they aren’t sure why that’s the case and are reviewing physician practises, led by a radiologist, said Dr. Richard Walker, head of diagnostic imaging for the Calgary zone.