While Health P.E.I. says improvements are coming in the new year, the latest batch of statistics from the health authority shows that wait times for MRI scans rose to the highest levels on record in 2024.
The average wait time for an Islander who received a routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to help diagnose a medical issue between July and September of this year was 524 days, or 75 weeks.
About one in 10 Islanders in that category waited more than two years, which Health P.E.I. said is the current expected wait time for someone referred today.
That’s despite the fact that Health P.E.I.’s target wait time for a routine MRI is 12 weeks.
“Obviously waiting two years is totally unacceptable. I mean, nobody should have to wait that long,” said Dr. Ania Kielar, associate professor of medical imaging with the University of Toronto and president of the Canadian Association of Radiologists.
Last week, CBC News published the story of a woman in Nova Scotia who waited three years for a magnetic resonance image scan — only to discover that she had a brain tumour.
Kielar said those are the types of conditions that go undetected, and potentially worsen, when there are long delays to provide the necessary imaging.
“Thirty days is reasonable if it’s not emergent, but two years clearly isn’t,” she said. “If you have an illness that’s serious, by the time that comes around, it’s not going to be a great outcome.”
New staff coming, but backlog keeps growing
“MRI services on P.E.I. have been at 50 per cent staffing for most of 2024 due to staff retirement, which is having a significant impact on wait times,” Health P.E.I. said in a statement to CBC News.
The agency said two new technologists who’ve been training for almost a year will start work in January, bringing services to full staffing. In the meantime, Health P.E.I. said it’s been using private agency staff to boost numbers.
