The average wait time for an MRI scan at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital is considerably less than the province as a whole, according to Alberta Health Services online data.
There are a number of categories in terms of the urgency of the request and this can affect the waiting period. The data provided here is a combination of all categories.
In the last quarter of 2019 the average wait in Alberta was 16.9 weeks and 90 per cent of patients were served in 46 weeks.
In the same time frame for the south zone, which includes Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, the wait was about 14.2 weeks and 90 per cent were served in about 45 weeks.
When it comes to MHRH alone, the average wait was as low as 8.8 weeks in December last year and 10.6 weeks in October.
According to the AHS data 90 per cent were served in 23 weeks in October, 19 weeks in November and 18 weeks in December. Earlier in the year the wait had hovered around 33 weeks for several months in a row. The longest wait for 90 per cent had been 34 weeks in the previous year. From June 2019 there was a consistent decline in the number of weeks to wait reaching a low of 18 weeks last December.
MHRH handles about 600 MRIs a month, according to the data. The south zone completes about 1000 a month and the province as a whole more than 14,000 some months.
In the Calgary zone more than 5,000 MRIs are done some months and the average wait last December was 24.8 weeks. However, 90 per cent were served after a 57 week wait according to AHS online data for December 2019.
