Loretta Holmes, who told Peace Arch News that her two year wait for an MRI scan was “ridiculous,” was informed she could have her MRI 17 months ahead of schedule.
The 75-year-old South Surrey woman noticed a lump on her foot last spring.
After an ultrasound, doctors speculated the lump on her foot was a non-life-threatening ganglion cyst and arranged an MRI, initially scheduled for Sept. 11, 2018 at the Peace Arch Hospital.
“I phoned them to find out when I would have an MRI and I nearly had a fit,” she told PAN last month.
A spokesperson for Fraser Health told PAN that MRI scheduling is priority-based, adding there is no wait for emergency MRIs.
Holmes contacted PAN last Friday to say her appointment was rescheduled for April 21, 2017. She said a representative from Fraser Health called her at 8 p.m. that evening.
“I’m quite pleased, actually. I don’t want to wait two years if I don’t have to. I was quite surprised when she phoned and said that,” Holmes said.
Anna Marie D’Angelo, media relations officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, said medical imaging for the Vancouver and Fraser area has been working for the last three weeks to smooth out access for MRIs so that it’s evenly disrupted.
“She is lucky because she got the access at her home hospital that she wanted,” D’Angelo told PAN. “The option would (usually) be people would do a little driving, or still wait for the hospital they want.”
(Disclosure: Holmes is related to a PAN staff member who did not assist with this article.)
