MRI department at Royal University Hospital has decreased to the point where health officials have decide to scale back hours of operation, creating concerns about wait times for the service.A memo sent earlier this week to Saskatoon physicians and staff within the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) cites “ongoing recruitment challenges” due to a “recent critical shortage of MRI technologists.” Saskatchewan moves to end COVID-19 public health orders The shortage means the department at RUH will only operate from 7:30 a.m.
to 4 p.m. daily effective Monday. Urgent and emergent care will be available by on-call service after 4 p.m. The changes are in effect until further notice.Previously, the department operated until midnight from Monday to Friday.
Its weekend hours remain unchanged.“(MRI technologists) are more difficult to recruit for many health care organizations in the country, including the SHA,” reads a statement attributed to Bryan Witt, executive director of diagnostic imaging with the health authority.Witt cited a shortage of recent MRI graduates, a high number of staff on maternity leave and limited casual staff available to fill vacant shifts.Another factor is “unanticipated staff attrition,” though Witt didn’t indicate where employees have gone.