A new MRI machine opened for use this week in Saskatoon.
The facility where it’s held opened in 2020 and is the only 100 per cent Indigenous-owned imaging clinic in Canada, shared between three Saskatchewan First Nations.
The National Diagnostic Imaging Clinic has now expanded to include a 1.5T MRI machine.
The expansion is intended to increase imaging capacity.
“We’re showing other nations what we can do when we work together,” said Chief Kirby Constant of James Smith Cree Nation at Tuesday’s unveiling.
“It’s not only providing a service to our First Nation people, but also to the residents.”
The National Medical Imaging clinic opened in 2020. It’s owned by James Smith Cree Nation, Chakastaypasin Band of the Cree Nation and the Peter Chapman Band.
The new machine was celebrated with prayers and a drum ceremony.
The addition of a second machine promises to reduce wait times for patients and will support additional specialized exams requested by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
“If we help our neighbors, we’re helping ourselves,” Constant said. “And that’s the main focus of what we’re trying to do here.”
Indigenous Services Canada contributed just over $930,000.
The rest of the total $3.4 million expansion was funded by the shareholder nations and the clinic itself.
The funds are also going toward increasing bone density testing services this fall, with plans to expand those services in Regina next year.
“More capacity means shorter wait times for patients, faster clinical decisions and ultimately helping patients get the care they need sooner,” said Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill.
Robert Head is the Band Chief for the Peter Chapman Band. (Don Somers/CBC)
Peter Chapman Band Chief Robert Head said the updates provide a chance for people to access life-saving care.
“I know people that have come through the clinic here and they’ve got that early diagnosis and they were able to save their lives, and that’s so important,” Head said.
“There’s a lot of First Nations that have gas stations and our First Nations have a national medical imaging clinic.”
The clinic now operates two MRI scanners. Head said the expansion will allow for a better workload balance between the two.
The event also included the announcement that a medical radiation technologist will be sent north to Sandy Bay for 18 days out of the year.
Over the past five years the number of CT scans in Saskatchewan has increased by more than 54,000 patients and more than 14,000 MRI scans, according to the province.
These developments are part of Saskatchewan’s 2028 goal of completing 90 per cent of diagnostic scans within 90 days.
In 2024 the average wait time for an MRI in Saskatoon was 100 days; the wait was closer to 300 days in Regina.
