Plans for a diagnostic lab and MRI unit in Niverville remain on pause. Gord Daman, vice-president of Niverville Heritage Holdings, says while their proposal suffered a setback last fall with the release of the provincial government's Wait Times Task Force report, they, together with the Town of Niverville, are not giving up.

"We continue to investigate the various options that are available, including MRI and ultrasound and we remain optimistic to positive that we will be able to do something. We've looked at some different options and we're continuing to investigate those. And while officially on pause, we move forward with a hopeful attitude that we would be able to announce something later this spring."

Niverville's plan was designed to help the province deal with long wait times for MRI procedures and also make the town a destination for such medical services. But the Wait Times Task Force suggested no additional MRI units were needed in the province and that waiting lists could be eased by simply operating the existing units for more hours each day. Daman says that pushed back their proposed construction timeline which remains uncertain.

"Originally, we were hoping to be able to start construction in late fall of last year which, of course, was put on pause. We then hoped to start in January or February and that, no doubt, has not happened. What we are looking at are options, everything from still continuing with construction to possibilities of re-purposing of the existing Heritage Centre site. All of those options are being considered by the working group."

However, Daman says one way or another, they will have to make a decision this spring whether to go ahead with the project or shelve it.

"For us to be able to move forward with this, we recognize that we would need to try and bring a conclusion one way or another to this by late spring. If we go much past late spring, then it's probably fairly evident that while we certainly feel that the plan and the overall concept was a worthy one, that simply, at this point in time, we would have to wait because the province has found a creative way themselves to be able to address those wait times."

Read more: New Medical Centre Hopes To Cut Down On MRI Wait Times