Bathurst Hospital's MRI machine is installed and operational

It marks the end of a long campaign to get an MRI machine for Bathurst Hospital which, up until this month, has had to transport patients to other facilities for the important scans.

The machine became operational on January 30 and was officially opened on February 23.

General manager of imaging services, James Harvey, said the new service has been working well.

"It's been going great. I've had about 70 patients go through so far, most importantly inpatients, who don't need to be transported anywhere and they can get the scan done here," he said.

Without its own MRI machine, inpatients would need to be taken to other facilities, including as far away as Orange, which could be quite uncomfortable for them depending on what they were in hospital for.

Mr Harvey said the new facility is already making a difference in that respect.

"It's a big difference. It means patients don't have to wait around to be transferred. They're transferred downstairs instead of across town or into Orange, so it's made a big difference," he said.

Bathurst Hospital received funding from the NSW Government in September, 2020 for the $4.92 million facility.

Due to the enormous size of the machine itself, an extension had to be built onto the existing imaging department, and construction on that commenced in May, 2021.

The facility was originally meant to open in November, 2022, but weather and the COVID-related issues delayed the completion of construction.

Staff were recruited on time, though, with Mr Harvey saying that four new staff were hired at the hospital as a result of the project.

"They were all recruited nice and early, and have all started and commenced," he said.

Member for Bathurst Paul Toole welcomed the opening of the MRI facility on Thursday.

"This brand new MRI service is a welcome addition for Bathurst and the surrounding communities, helping to reduce travel and wait times for local patients," he said.

"The delivery of this new MRI service means patients will no longer need to be transferred out of the facility to receive an MRI."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: