Officials at Erie Shores Healthcare are celebrating the official opening of the hospital's permanent MRI suite.
An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Thursday morning with the Ontario Health Minister in attendance.
Sylvia Jones announced the province is investing $1.3-million.
"By investing in Erie Shores Healthcare's first-ever MRI machine, our government is taking another step to make it easier and faster for more people and families in Leamington and across Essex County to access key diagnostic services in their community," said Jones.
Included in the $1.3-million investment is $540,800, which will expand the MRI's hours of operation to 16 hours a day.
The MRI suite was announced over two years ago, along with a new MRI at Windsor Regional Hospital.
"The expansion of MRI services at Erie Shores Healthcare is another example of health care being provided when and where people need it," said Essex MPP Anthony Leardi. "More health care closer to home is a huge benefit for our region."
The announcement is part of the 50 new MRI machines in 43 hospitals across Ontario. It's also adding another 100,000 MRI and CT scans at community surgical and diagnostic centres across the province each year to cut wait times for a scan to 28 days.
In October, the hospital announced it had completed more than 1,000 MRI scans using its temporary MRI machine.
So far, the campaign has raised $3.5-million, which is still short of its $5-million goal.