Riverside Health Care has some of the provincial funding necessary for a new MRI at LaVerendrye General Hospital in Fort Frances.

Three million dollars in capital and operating funding will flow from the Ministry of Northern Development.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford says he negotiated the money with the Health Ministry when he was Minister.

“We negotiated it with the Ministry of Health, and we allocated a funding source through that ministry that would support the hospitals west of Thunder Bay, understanding and recognizing that they faced unique challenges,” says Rickford.

Rickford says the catalyst was an appointment of his own in Thunder Bay, where he was scheduled for an MRI at 3 a.m.

He met other patients, also from the Kenora-Rainy River district, that has appointments for the same period.

He says an MRI in Fort Frances will eliminate the need for travel and early morning appointments.

“Who likes going to Thunder Bay for an MRI at 2 or 3 in the morning? I have. I don’t like it. Many constituents here have not,” says Rickford.

“Whether you live in Kenora or here in Fort Frances, in the not-too-distant future, you’re going to have a 1400 square foot state-of-the-art MRI and get that diagnostic test done here.”

Riverside Health is still in discussions with the Ministry of Health on other funding.

Local fundraising is also taking place.