One of the most important messages to come from the latest meeting to bring an MRI unit to St. Joseph's Hospital in Estevan is the need to maintain the pressure.
Elaine Walkom and Dean Martens, who are proponents of the MRI project, met with representatives of St. Joseph's Hospital last week. Both sides came away from the meeting saying the right things and they appear to be on the same page when it comes to bringing an MRI unit to Estevan.
It's now been a few weeks since we learned about the Ministry of Health's baffling decision to deny Walkom's offer of $2 million to add MRI services for St. Joe's. Rather than going through the process with her and explaining what needs to be done before approving the machine, they said no. And people around the province have been justifiably hammering them ever since.
It's imperative for us to keep reminding the government that we want and need an MRI unit in Estevan. We can't just sit back now and say we've done our work to put the issue on the government's radar. We can't take a wait-and-see approach to the provincial budget. And we can't just expect social media to be good enough.
Don't give the government a reason to think we don't want this.
The ministry has really painted itself into a corner on this issue. Everybody now knows they said no to a $2 million donation that would have gone a long way in reducing wait lists for a much-needed piece of equipment, and cut down on travel time for tens of thousands of people who have to drive more than two hours to access an MRI.
St. Joseph's Hospital is going to submit a proposal to have the scanner installed at the hospital. Helping with that proposal is going to be someone who has been involved with the installation of similar machines elsewhere. And it's going to be largely financed by someone who has justifiably and uncompromisingly said MRI or bust, because of what this means to her and her family.
The MRI would be located in an area where the other diagnostic imaging equipment is already in place, including a CT scanner.
The drive to bring an MRI machine to Estevan feels a little reminiscent of the push to bring a CT scanner to St. Joe's nearly a decade ago, when we were able to secure the much-needed piece of equipment only because the people stepped up and said we want it.
I have zero qualms with the fact that Estevan could be pushed to the head of the list for an MRI unit because someone is willing to pony up the dough. We have a publicly-funded health-care system. If we can save millions of dollars on equipment purchases because of a generous donation, that's great.
Perhaps the money that would be spent on a new MRI unit can be used to fund needed equipment elsewhere. And if the government accepts Ms. Walkom's donation and we get this equipment, perhaps it will inspire more people to follow her lead.
We have very generous people in Saskatchewan who are eager to make donations for health care, but the Ministry of Health's actions earlier this year didn't exactly inspire them to make future donations.
I support some form of a universal health-care system, but I also endorse people taking matters into their own hands to improve their communities.
If the government exercises good, common sense, and grants the MRI unit for St. Joe's, then it's not going to be here overnight. There is still a lot of work that has to be done. The hospital will have to renovate the area to accommodate the unit. They'll have to find the necessary staff. Hopefully, that means a few more people will be relocating to Estevan. And they'll need to get the necessary equipment delivered. It will take time.
Until we dedicate and celebrate the opening of a new MRI machine in Estevan, we need our voices to be heard. Reach out to our MLA. Let her know what you think. Write a letter to the editor. It's time for this to happen.
