The powerful magnets that will become Cambridge Memorial Hospital's first MRI machine were delivered on Monday.
In a nod to history, the truck carrying the massive magnets was lead by work horses on loan from the International Plowing Match for the final portion of the route.
Work is underway on the 1,900 sq. ft. MRI suite, and the machine is expected to be up and running by March 2012.
A fundraising campaign currently underway has so far raised $2.4 million of the $4 million needed for the site construction, the machine and installation.
Operating room nurse Linda Becker says it's worth every penny of the investment.
"It's a momentous moment when you start the MRI. It's a great thing for patients and the staff to be able to offer that to the community."
One installed, the machine will run eight hours a day, five days a week, with $800,000 in annual funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
That should allow the hospital to handle scans for 3,300 patients annually, and the hospital can apply for an expansion of hours in the future.
It's welcome news for those who have had to wait for the radiation-free technology.
Cambridge councillor Karl Kiefer says "I have some personal history with MRI. My own daughter needed to get one and had to wait six months."
Marg Devitt, who wanted to watch the arrival, says "I have had an MRI done, one in London and one in Guelph, so it will be so much more convenient."
The new machine should cut wait times and reduce the need for patients to travel to Guelph, Kitchener and Hamilton.
Patrick Gaskin, CEO of Cambridge Memorial Hospital, says "We started off about a dozen years ago with the worst wait times in the province and we have been able to bring those down together with the other hospitals that have MRIs and now ours adding to that will help reduce the wait times throughout Waterloo-Wellington."
The first patients are being scheduled starting around March 16.
