Northern Manitoba mobile MRI unit parked in Thompson, struggling to keep staff, associations say

A mobile MRI unit intended to serve patients in two northern Manitoba communities has been parked in Thompson and is struggling to retain staff, according to two associations representing technologists in the province.

The provincial government launched the mobile MRI unit in Thompson last June, with plans for it to rotate between that northern city and The Pas — about 300 kilometres to the southwest — later in 2025.

Dayna McTaggart, the provincial manager for the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists Manitoba, works as a medical radiological technologist in The Pas.

McTaggart said the mobile unit hasn't yet visited her town of nearly 6,000, with patients left relying on the MRI facilities in Thompson or Dauphin, also about 300 kilometres from The Pas.

She said some patients are choosing to travel to Brandon — 450 kilometres away — for MRI scans, which are often used for diagnosis, to detect diseases including cancers, and to monitor treatment.

"Until the machine is actually deployed to The Pas, members of our community and surrounding area are not going to see a significant difference," she said.

"We have not received any indication as to a concrete date. And from what I can see around the health facility, there has been no start on ensuring that the space is ready for the equipment when it arrives," she said.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the government is still working to expand mobile MRI services to The Pas. 

It has taken longer than expected because the project to connect the mobile unit only received one bid, which was over the approved budget, the spokesperson said. That has forced the province to enter a second request for proposals process.

Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals president Jason Linklater said the unit has also struggled to recruit and retain staff in the nearly nine months since it was introduced. 

The union president said the facility has a 60 per cent vacancy rate, with just two staff members — one working full time and the other part time. Several staff members have resigned since June, he said.

"As the staffing situation gets worse, your ability to retain people also gets worse," he said. 

Asagwara's spokesperson confirmed the facility has one full-time time MRI technologist and one part-time technologist. Another full-time technologist has been hired, the spokesperson said, who is expected to start after training is completed later this spring.

Linklater said union members who work north of the 53rd parallel are supposed to receive higher pay through a 15 per cent differential.