A historic day for the Dartmouth General.

The hospital now has its first-ever MRI suite to increase capacity and help tackle wait times that can take up to a year.

Community members, hospital staff, top donors and Premier Tim Houston, had the official ribbon cutting ceremony, Monday, for its 1,100 square foot space.

Donors contributed $2 million and include J & W Murphy Foundation; first donors, Joseph and Violet Diab; and Mickey MacDonald, who completed the campaign.

The provincial government paid $10.9 million for the construction and ongoing operating costs.

Houston thanked the hospital, its donors and partners at Nova Scotia Health for helping to deliver “more care, faster”.

“Today is a shining example of how much we can achieve, working together. This partnership will result in improved access to healthcare services and reduced wait times for MRI scans for Nova Scotians.”

The unit is equipped with a special orthopedics package to better serve patients at the Fred Smithers Centre for Orthopedic Care.

It will allow for 3-D images of hips and knees and provide the ability to see ligaments and tendons clearly.

Not only that, but patients will also no longer have to go to Halifax for urgent scans.

It was quite a feat to even get the unit into the hospital. It weighs 26,000 lbs and had to be brought in through the roof.

Now that it is here, it will operate every day, serving 20-25 patients a week.

It is one of four new MRI machines slated for the province over the next several months.