Lifesaving Medical Scans Available In Hawkesbury

A new Medicare-funded MRI Licence at Hawkesbury Hospital means residents can now access lifesaving medical scans locally.

The Medicare-funded MRI licence for a new MRI machine was a pre-election promise of Federal Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman less than a year ago.

“The MRI machine is up and running with patients accessing the Medicare rebate for their treatment,” Ms Templeman said.

“We are excited to launch a fully Medicare rebateable MRI service at Hawkesbury Hospital.”

Castlereagh Imaging Chief Executive Officer and Radiologist, Dr James Linklater said it covered both GP and specialist Medicare-eligible referrals, providing a service to both hospital inpatients and outpatients from the Hawkesbury region, ensuring ease of access to state of the MRI technology which uses artificial intelligence to deliver outstanding image quality.

“We are grateful to Susan Templeman’s advocacy for this project which has been instrumental in delivering an MRI license to the Hawkesbury community,” Dr Linklater said.

Ms Templeman inspected the new machine at Hawkesbury Hospital last week to hear how the first week of operation had been and thanked doctors and staff for their advocacy in delivering the MRI machine.

Hawkesbury District Health Service CEO, Strephon Billinghurst, said he was pleased the MRI technology was now available within Hawkesbury District Health Service.

“Previously, patients who required an MRI scan needed to be transported 30 to 40 minutes to access the service,” Mr Billhurst said.

“Having the service available onsite, means better access for our patients, decreased wait times and improved efficiency throughout the medical investigation process.”

Ms Templeman said the state-of-the-art MRI was already making a difference to patients.

“My support for this MRI licence was driven by the doctors at Hawkesbury Hospital who raised their frustration that patients had to travel as far as Westmead to receive an MRI scan, tying up patient transport and delaying diagnosis and treatment,” she said.

“This can now all be done onsite.” IMAGE: Chief Executive Officer of Castlereagh Imaging, James Linklater, Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman, and Hawkesbury Hospital Radiologist, Dr Vincent Lei celebrate Hawkesbury’s new MRI machine.

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