The Chronicle Herald: ‘If we can bring the care closer to home, it’s better for the patients’

Mobile MRI

The QEII Foundation is working with the community to bring a mobile MRI to Nova Scotia in 2025 – increasing access to care for patients across the province. UNCHARTED MEDIA

The Davison family is matching all donations in support of QEII Foundation’s mobile MRI fundraising initiative

In an effort to make MRI scanning more accessible to patients living across the province where gaps in access exist or where MRI services are currently not available, the QEII Foundation is working with the community to raise funds to bring a new mobile MRI unit to Nova Scotia in 2025.

Now with the support from the Davison family, anyone who supports the initiative will have double the impact.

Today on Giving Tuesday, the QEII Foundation announced that the Davison family is generously supporting the critical project by matching all gifts up to $100,000 until Dec. 31. This means for every donation made in support of the mobile MRI project, the Halifax family will double or match the gift amount.

Giving Tuesday is a day that encourages people to do good and is the perfect opportunity to donate to the project and make an impact on health care in the province.

Like most Nova Scotians, Jacqueline Davison and all five of her children have had to utilize the QEII Health Sciences Centre, which was the main motivation for their support.

“My children have all had things done there and also my husband and it seemed like a very good place to put our money,” says Davison.

The family is appreciative of the extraordinary care they have always received at the QEII and were eager to help. They chose to support the mobile MRI project after learning it was an area of current need for the Foundation. The initiative is part of the Foundation’s $100-million We Are campaign to transform health care through the QEII.

MRIs are in high demand because they are typically one of the best diagnostic imaging tests and often the first part of helping physicians better understand a patient’s health concerns, particularly for neurology, oncology, cardiology, and orthopedics.

The mobile MRI, which will move around the province to areas with the greatest need, will result in quicker diagnosis and treatment, deliver care closer to home for many Nova Scotians, and ultimately improve patient health outcomes.

It will also be instrumental where MRIs are nearing the end of their life, which can further add to the wait list.

Dr. James Clarke, QEII radiologist and chief of diagnostic imaging, Central Zone, Nova Scotia Health, says the mobile MRI will be extremely helpful to help support the replacement of some aging infrastructure at regional hospitals.

“We have MRIs that are getting very old and need to be replaced and the fact that we have a mobile MRI for the province will help facilitate that so that we can bring the MRI to the facility while renovations and construction are going on. We’ll still be able to offer MR service at the regional hospitals during that construction process which will help us avoid an interruption in service at the different sites,’’ he explains.

The mobile service will be a resource for the whole province, which is why the QEII Foundation is leading the initiative to increase capacity for all Nova Scotians. As the province’s largest and most specialized health centre, the QEII is Nova Scotia’s hospital. And each person who moves off the wait list will create a spot for another patient waiting.

“If we can bring the care closer to home, it’s better for the patients, better for the families, and it’s better for the communities. It’s innovative for Nova Scotia in terms of bringing MRIs to communities that may not have access to it right now,’’ he shares.

“It’s a state-of the-art, brand new top-of-the-line unit which is going to be excellent for the needs of Nova Scotians.’’

Dr. Clarke gratefully acknowledges the Davisons’ support of the project and encourages other QEII Foundation donors to consider following suit.

“I think it’s fantastic. It’s taking leadership in philanthropy and in recognizing the benefits to all Nova Scotians with this type of technology. I can’t say thank you enough to the Davison family for supporting this and showing leadership in advancing care for all Nova Scotians.’’

To learn more or to donate – and double your impact – visit, QE2Foundation.ca/mobilemri

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