Niverville partners with private company to build new MRI clinic

The Town of Niverville is partnering with a private company to build a new diagnostic centre that would include an MRI machine to help address long wait-lists for scans in the public system, organizers say.

There are currently 11 MRI machines in Manitoba and the average wait time for a scan is 24 weeks.

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The six-month wait time is prompting thousands of patients to drive to Pembina, N.D., for fasterscans in the United States, says Gordon Daman, a spokesperson for the Nivervilleproject.

With an MRI machine closer to home, patients willhave a third option, Daman said. The town is about 30 kilometres south of Winnipeg.

"It's not private or public but rather an innovative community response for the common good," he said.

When the centre is finished, it will charge patients $1,000 and $1,300 for an MRI scan, he said. Low-income patients who share their tax information could receive a discount of as much as25 per cent.

Other services offered at the clinic, such as X-rays, will be covered by Manitoba Health at no cost to the patient.

Agreement to last 25 years

Construction of the 2,400-square-foot clinic andpurchasing all the diagnostic equipment will cost between $4 millionand $5 million, Daman said.

Niverville Heritage Holdings Inc., which is partnering with the townand Niverville Heritage Centre to build the clinic, will own it for 25 years, recouping its investment first and then making a profit after that. It will be run in partnership withSant Sud-Southern Health.

Neither the province nor thefederal government are involved in the public-private partnership, also known as a P3.

When the company's lease expires in about 2043, the clinic and all its equipment will be donated to theNiverville Heritage Centre, a not-for-profit community-owned corporation, Daman said.

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"The private provider will be on what's called a leasehold title, which will expire," he said. "All that titled property will come back to the Heritage Centre."

After the clinic is running, it will be up to the province to ensure it meets provincial regulations and up to the federal government to ensure it is not in violation of the Canada Health Act.

Aside from individual patients, Daman said he believes the clinic will get business from third-party insurers such as the Workers Compensation Board and Manitoba Public Insurance, which currently paythe Winnipeg Regional Health Authority to use its machines.

Construction of the diagnostic centre is scheduled to begin in October or November and it will be completed in fall 2018, Daman said.

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