A second MRI machine is heading to Guelph General Hospital.
The hospital said a funding application to operate a second machine has been approved, and is one of 27 new machines across Ontario the province said it will provide annual operating funding for.
Hospital equipment is not funded by the province, and hospitals rely on donations to make those purchases.
"We are grateful to be able to offer the benefits that a second MRI machine will bring to the Guelph and Wellington County community," Marianne Walker, the president and CEO of Guelph General Hospital, said in a news release. "We are so appreciative of our dedicated diagnostic imaging professionals that will continue to support this important work."
Guelph has one MRI machine in operation, but the 16-year-old machine is being replaced next summer after the Foundation of Guelph General Hospital raised the over $2.25 million needed to do so.
The hospital said the one machine services 12,000 patients a year, both locally and from other hospitals without an MRI.
Dr. Samir Patel, the chief of diagnostic imaging at GGH, said the additional machine will help keep pace with demand, which has increased over the past few years.
The hospital foundation will begin fundraising efforts to purchase the second machine.