The drive to raise enough money for a new $7-million MRI machine at Health Sciences North (HSN) in Sudbury has been given a huge boost.
The Northern Cancer Foundation (NCF) and Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Glencore Sudbury INO) have jointly announced a $500,000 donation to the Unlock the Potential campaign. An MRI is a diagnostic imaging machine that provides real time images inside the human body. It has become a staple of modern medicine.
The fundraising drive for the new MRI is in place to acquire a second, newer machine for the hospital. HSN is the only academic hospital of its size in Ontario that operates on only one MRI. Because of that, the average patient waits 84 days for a scan when the provincial average is 24 days, said a news release from the cancer foundation.
HSM's current machine is in demand 24 hours a day, not just for patients in Sudbury, but from across Northeastern Ontario.
Unlock The Potential is a joint fundraising effort involving the cancer foundation, the HSN Foundation and NEO Kids Foundation with the aim to acquire the new MRI machine to help provide a more fair and equitable access to patients across the North.
Peter Xavier, Glencore Sudbury INO vice president said his company recognizes the importance of providing improved medical service.
“On behalf of Glencore Sudbury INO, I am pleased to confirm our support to Health Sciences North in this joint partnership campaign with the Northern Cancer Foundation,” said Xavier in the joint news release.
Glencore and the cancer foundation had been working together for the last two years to find a cause suitable for a donation of this magnitude and the MRI was seen as a perfect fit, said the release.
“This donation is going to go a long way to giving cancer patients in northeastern Ontario fair access to MRI scans, which play an important role in diagnosing tumours and helping healthcare experts choose the best treatment options for the best cancer outcomes,” said Anthony Keating, president and CDO of Foundations and Volunteer Groups at HSN.
The release said this latest donation brings the fundraising bar up to $4.3 million that has been raised for the Unlock the Potential MRI Campaign.
