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Non-emergency patients needing MRI scans will now wait more than a year because cuts by the Vancouver Island Health Authority have limited the availability of the diagnostic tool.

In October, VIHA announced the number of magnetic resonance imaging being done on the four machines in Nanaimo and Victoria would have to be cut from more than 22,000 to 19,000. In Nanaimo, that's a 10% decrease from 6,600 to 6,000.

"There was a lack of one-time funding forcing coverage to go back to previous budget levels," said Heather Gibson, director of medical imaging for VIHA. "Right now, for a medically necessary but non-urgent procedure, it's 14 months."

In September, before the October announcement of cost-cutting measures throughout VIHA, the waiting time for non-emergency MRIs was about nine months. And Gibson said NRGH is not having an easy time making sure MRIs are available in a "timely manner" for emergency cases. Making sure emergency MRIs are provided in the time required -- the emergency benchmark is 30 days -- is "always a struggle," said Gibson.

Until last month, they were meeting that 30-day benchmark, she said.

But she said that VIHA spends more than other health authorities to provide the MRI unit in Nanaimo and the three in Victoria. She said that VIHA does as many MRI scans as the Fraser Health Authority, which has almost twice the population.

She admits that cutting MRI availability by 10% has made it more difficult to provide the service. Gibson said they continue to juggle access and staffing to make sure the MRI is available when needed in an emergency.

"The access is there. If you come into emergency and flat out, your MRI is going to get done," she said.

Source: The Daily News (Nanaimo)

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