WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says it has stopped referring patients to a private clinic for magnetic resonance imaging scans, or MRIs, due to problems with the clinic's equipment.
The health authority says the MRI at the Maples Surgical Centre is considerably weaker in strength and resolution than other machines used by the organization.
Authority spokesman Dr. Brian Postl says radiologists are "uncomfortable" with the quality of scans being done at the clinic.
Last December, the surgical centre announced a three-year, $2.3-million contract with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority that will see its surgical services and MRI scanner used for publicly funded procedures.
In exchange, the centre agreed to end its year-long practice of allowing patients to bypass several weeks of waiting for medicare-funded MRI scans by paying $695 for a quick, private scan.
Postl says he's confident that patients who had imaging at the centre received the appropriate diagnosis and that talks are continuing to improve the capacity of the clinic's MRI.
