MRI plans on hold in Niverville

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/01/2018 (2286 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A diagnostics centre project that was announced last year and would include an MRI machine in Niverville has now been put on hold, as those in charge of the project wait and see if they will get the support they need from both the province and the federal government to get the project off the ground.

Back in August Niverville Heritage Holdings Inc. announced plans for a diagnostic centre to be set up in Niverville which would include equipment such as an MRI machine, ultrasound and x-ray lab.

But Gord Daman, a spokesperson for the project said much of what has taken place in health care locally since the announcement has forced them to push back their planned timeline for the proposal, while they wait to see if it can still move forward.

“We’ve been in discussion with the province, and as the minister had indicated off the hop he is certainly supportive of the Niverville option,” Daman said.

“However much has happened obviously since August. We have gone through the appointment with Shared Health, and now anything around diagnostics is now being coordinated by Shared Health.”

According to Daman a major factor in whether or not the project can move forward is if the province chooses to accept some of the recommendations that were made in the Wait Times Reduction Task Force report released on Dec. 20.

“The task force report indicated that at this point they are recommending the province does not undertake any additional diagnostics capacity in regards to infrastructure until they have been able to maximize use of the existing facilities that are in place,” Daman said.

According to Daman the report has recommended increasing hours at existing diagnostic labs in Manitoba, rather than creating new labs in the province, so they now must wait to see if the province will accept those recommendations.

“If the province is not looking for any additional capacity at this time that doesn’t mean it’s a no, but it is obviously a wait and see on where we go, and that will take some time to settle out until we know the decision of Shared Health,” Daman said.

“We know at this point they have received the task force report, but they have not really commented specifically one way or another.”

Daman added that research he has seen leads him to believe that increasing hours at existing labs can save money in the short term but may not always the best long term solution, because it can lead to more patient no-shows during the earlier and later parts of the day, and can also lead to machines breaking down quicker because they are being used more often.

Daman said because of all the unknowns they have still not applied for a formal license from the project from the province.

“We hoped to have construction begin in January and that is no doubt going to be paused at this point because of the info that has come out since then,” Daman said.

He also said that even if they get the go-ahead from the province, the federal government could also potentially halt the project by withholding funding to the province.

“If the feds say cease and desist by holding back funding to the province, then there would be the potential of having that license removed by the health minister,” Daman said.

“We continue to have discussion with the three partners, but in no way do we want to begin something that is not sustainable.”

When first announced Niverville Heritage Holdings Inc. said that they hoped to have the project up and running by the fall of 2018, with the total cost of the project estimated to be between $4 and $5 million.

The project was proposed as a public-private partnership between Niverville Heritage Holdings Inc., the Town of Niverville and local citizens Felipe Campusano and Yves Kimbo.