Volunteer association donates $200,000 for MRI machine

A large donation by the Grand River Hospital Volunteer Association will go a long way toward bringing an advanced MRI scanner to Waterloo Region.

The association, which runs the hospital’s Tim Hortons outlet, the gift shop and other retail services, announced Friday that it is donating $200,000 from its 2017 operations to the Grand River Hospital Foundation.

With the donation, the foundation now has $1 million of its $4.5-million target for its campaign for an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner.

“It will allow us to do some imaging that would otherwise require people to travel to another community,” hospital chief executive Malcolm Maxwell said. “It will also be a little bit faster. Principally, what we’re gaining is better imaging, because the old machine is, a) warn out, and b) the technology is 20 years old.”

The new scanner will be particularly helpful for younger children and newborns, who require precise resolution in their scans.

Maxwell said radiologists have mentioned that the current MRI scanner provides appropriate scans for some cases, but in other cases children have to travel elsewhere to get an accurate diagnosis.

Grand River Hospital runs more than 16,000 MRI scans a

year.

The new machine will replace the older scanner.

“The new one will be somewhat faster in terms of image acquisition, but more importantly than that, over a couple of decades, technology changes and improves a lot,” said Maxwell.

For example, he said, the “neurological images of children will be better and more precise. The equipment will have capabilities that were unavailable a generation ago when our current MRI was purchased.” Maxwell said he expects the new scanner will be up and running early next year.

From 2014 to 2017, proceeds from the volunteer association to the hospital from its retail services totalled $508,970. Since 1988, donations toward new equipment and improving patient care has totalled more than $5 million.

“Each and every other GRH volunteer — from those behind the scenes to those on the front lines — should be very proud of their contribution and this donation toward purchasing a new MRI,” said Tracey Bailey, CEO of the hospital foundation. “It will save the lives of so many people in our community for years.”