A major fundraising campaign is to be launched in a bid to bring a $1.5 million Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine to Bermuda later this year.

Chief executive of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital Stephanie Reid said businesses and individuals had already pledged money to the cause, but she hoped much more would begin to flood in.

And she said provided the bulk of the money was raised, the Island could have the long-awaited scanning machine here by late summer or the end of the year.

With around 500 people each year having to go to the US for MRI scans - with trips costing up to $3,000 a time - the machine could pay for itself within a year. Mrs. Reid said: “We are continuing to encourage businesses and people to donate towards the MRI. Fundraising is about to start.

“Pledges have been made, so very soon I'm hoping that we will get cheques in. Any shortfall in the fundraising will be met by the hospital, we will have to look at it, but hopefully, there won't be any shortfall.”

At the weekly meeting of the Hamilton Lions Club yesterday, US radiologist Dr. Carl Geyer, of the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts, explained to members what benefits an MRI would bring to Bermuda.

He has been on the Island to explain to doctors and nursing staff at the hospital how they would use the MRI and the advantages it will bring.

Yesterday, he explained to the Lions Club that the MRI machine will probably pay for itself within a year, bringing large savings for both the hospital, patients and health insurers over a number of years.

Currently, anyone needing either an angiogram (scan of the blood vessels) or MRI (scan of any other part of their body), has to go to the US, which can cost in the region of $3,000 when air tickets, accommodation and treatment costs are taken into account.

But if an MRI machine is brought to the Island, patients could undergo a scan of any part of their body right here in Bermuda.

It is also estimated that about $500,000 is spent by health insurers every year sending people to the US for MRI scans.

But Dr. Geyer said above all, the MRI was safer and more healthy for patients, as no doses of radiation are used, but the images it produced were also much clearer and more detailed than other options.

And he said one MRI machine would be sufficient for Bermuda to begin with, enabling doctors to see about 12 patients a day.

However, a CT scan would still be used for trauma patients, but the MRI would take care of both angiograms and general imaging.

Director of Diagnostic Imaging at King Edward VII Hospital Dr. Daniel Stovell said, at the moment, some patients were too ill to be sent overseas for an MRI test, but having the machine in Bermuda would enable everyone to make use of it.

He said Bermuda should have had an MRI unit for a number of years and it was time for the Island to get back up to speed”.

He said: “We are hoping to have it installed certainly by the end of this year, maybe by the end of this summer.”

Chief operating officer of the hospital Venetta Symons said: “At the moment, Bermuda sends a number of patients abroad for MRI. It's going to be more cost-effective to keep patients on the Island for the MRI than send them abroad. But it's not just a matter of how many scanners (Bermuda needs) based on the population).

“It's how many patients are we sending abroad? And how many patients are not having MRI but should be having MRI. They are not getting the proper work-up (preparation).”

And she said people needing angiograms have also been getting sent abroad, which is a very simple, if not uncomfortable, test. But the MRI would enable that to be done here, too.