B.C. government probing private MRIs

B.C. health officials are investigating reports that some people havepaid private health-care companies to jump the MRI waiting list at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver.

Health Minister George Abbott ordered the probe after hearing that a woman had paid $1,400 to a medical brokerage company to arrange for a privatemagnetic resonance imaging procedure.

Heidi Bozek said that to her surprise, shehad her diagnostic scanperformed at St. Paul's within days on a weekday morning.

"I couldn't quite understand how a public facility could be contracted out to a private organization for me to have my MRI," she told CBC News.

She said the company, Timely Medical Alternatives, told her she was not bumping patients in the public system.

She was also told some of her fees would go back to St. Paul's to pay for public-sector MRIs.

The hospital has been allowing private MRIs during off hours, provided that third-party insurance covers the procedure as required bythe Canada Health Act.

The investigation by the Health Ministry and the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority will focus on whether the hospital has gone beyond that by allowing patients to pay directly to jump the queue.