New MRI machine headed for Queen Elizabeth hospital

There will be a brand new MRI machine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by April, according to Health PEI.

Gailyne MacPherson, director of diagnostic imaging for Health PEI, describes it asstate of the art and afirst of its kind in Canada.

It might be a little colder walking out to the scanner and we just ask you to bear with us while we do this. It's going to be a really nice addition to our imaging services to have the new scanner. Gailyne MacPherson, Health PEI

To accommodate it, the current MRI suite has to be renovated which means a temporary location outside the hospital will be used after Nov. 19.

"Because of the renovation schedule, which is going to take four months or so, the room has to go down completely. So we have gotten a temporary unit which will be located outside of the building and we'll have an enclosed walkway to get to it," she said.

"There will be no disruption to the schedule. We'll run both scanners for a couple of days just to make sure that the temporary scanner is working before we decommission ours."

MacPherson says it might be a bit cold in the walkway to the trailer that will hold the machine.

"It might be a little colder walking out to the scanner and we just ask you to bear with us while we do this. It's going to be a really nice addition to our imaging services to have the new scanner."

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With files from Louise Martin