“Tonight marks the beginning of something truly transformative for our community,” were the words Kimberley Payne said to officially kick off a $6.5 million campaign to bring a magnetic resonance imaging or MRI machine to the Alexandra Marine and General Hospital in Goderich. “We’re launching the biggest capital campaign that the hospital foundation has ever launched. It’s a big $6.5 million campaign to bring an MRI, and that technology to the community of Huron County and beyond, because currently people travel to Owen Sound, to Kitchener, to London, Stratford, Strathroy,” said Payne, who is executive director of the Alexandra Marine and General Hospital Foundation. Although the ‘Magnetic Moments’ campaign officially launched on Tuesday, $960,000 has already been raised towards the project that will see an expansion to the hospital to accommodate the new MRI machine, the first one in Huron County. “They are a special kind of equipment that uses a very powerful magnet to get images. It’s not a radiation-based piece of equipment, and it has a niche for imaging. It’s really, really good for joints. It is sometimes really useful in pregnancy when we want to avoid radiation. It’s excellent for imaging the brain, which is a great help to our tele-stroke program at Goderich,” explained Tiffaney Kittmer, chief of surgery at the Alexandra Marine and General Hospital, and chair of the ‘Magnetic Moments’ MRI Campaign. “The diagnosis for cancer treatments, things like that will happen much faster. So, that means treatment gets to an individual sooner. So better outcomes,” said Payne. Currently the waiting times for the closest MRI machines to Goderich are 52 days in Owen Sound, 66 days in Stratford, and 360 days in London. “The wait times are very long. London’s MRI, there are a few there, and they’re swamped. They’re having a hard time keeping up with the demand. So, we’re actually probably going to be pulling from more than just our region. Outside the region, too,” said Kittmer. It’s expected to take two years to raise the necessary funds to bring an MRI to Goderich, but if all goes according to plan, the new piece of equipment will be installed in 2027, and operational sometime in 2028, foundation officials say. “People in our area recognize how great this will be to have an MRI in our area, and not have to travel as far, and maybe helps eliminate some wait times by having it closer to home,” said Alexandra Marine and General Hospital Foundation Chair Laura Herman. You can learn more on the Magnetic Moments website.
