Three local clinics have received licenses from the Province of Ontario to deliver MRI, CT scans and GI endoscopy services in the community.
They are part of the government's plan to add 57 new community surgical and diagnostic centres across the province. The government has committed $155 million to help cover the capital costs of offering these services in the community.
The centres are expected to reduce wait times for diagnostic services and reduce stress on local hospitals.
"This allows for that identification of what is going on faster and brings that into the community. You have more options, you have more healthcare being delivered and its going to bring peace of mind a lot faster," said Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie.
RAAMP Endoscopy and Rose City Endoscopy will start delivering services in 2026. The clinics are among 22 others across the province that will perform up to 420,000 procedures over two years.
"I would hope that this experience would be better for [patients]," said Dr. Wassim Saad. "It will be outside of a hospital, a lot of people have anxiety about going into a major organization like a hospital. It will be performed by clinicians who are experts in their field, just like they were in a hospital, but we hope to have a much more friendly feel."
The scans and services offered at private clinics will be covered by OHIP.
GMNI MRI/CT also received a license for diagnostic imaging services starting in 2026.
Dr. Saad, who is also Chief of Staff at Windsor Regional Hospital, said any services that can be offloaded from the hospital are good news for the overall system.
"Anything and everything we can do to offload the hospital saves and protects our hospitals for acute care, which is what they are meant to do. This announcement and these licenses is going to be huge for the hospitals," said Dr. Saad.