Eby says Eagle Ridge Hospital MRI purchase depends on election outcome

B.C. plans to buy eight MRI machines, including one earmarked for Eagle Ridge Hospital, but not until after the election. Premier David Eby said Tuesday at a press conference at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam that, if the government is successful in the election, it will order the machine right away. He added that the province would direct part of its American recruitment campaign toward MRI technicians to keep the machines operating.

Eby credited Zoe Royer, the MP for Port Moody-Coquitlam, with working hard to deliver the room that will house the machine. He said B.C. completed a record number of surgeries in 2025, but wait times remain unacceptable. Alongside the MRIs and 10 CT scanners, the province is introducing centralized regional waitlists. The change is intended to let British Columbians book surgery at a preferred hospital or choose the first hospital with availability.

In July, Fraser Health senior public affairs consultant Zahra Alani said plans were underway for a new MRI at Eagle Ridge Hospital. “We are working closely with the Ministry of Health to ensure we are ready to move forward as soon as funding and approvals are in place,” she said.

Port Moody Coun. Samantha Agtarap wrote in a letter to the Dispatch that, without an MRI machine at Eagle Ridge Hospital, patients have been sent off-site, sometimes accompanied by a nurse. She called the situation ridiculous amid existing staffing shortages and an unnecessary financial and human burden.

Across Fraser Health, adults waiting for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery typically wait between six weeks and five months. Fifty per cent of surgeries are completed within 6.1 weeks, and more than 90 per cent within 20.9 weeks. Waits are slightly shorter for colostomy, at 5.1 to 14.9 weeks. For procedures such as varicose vein ligation, however, waits range from 30.4 to 70.6 weeks.