Unity Health Toronto and Schroeder Ambulatory Centre have partnered to provide St. Michael’s Hospital patients with timely access to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) appointments, as the hospital upgrades two MRI scanners over the next several months. This type of partnership is the first for Schroeder Ambulatory Centre, a state-of-the-art non-profit outpatient care facility planned to open with a full suite of OHIP-covered outpatient health care services in early 2026.

St. Michael’s is home to four MRI scanners, which allow clinicians to see detailed images of a patient’s internal structures using a large magnet, radio waves and computer. Like many devices, as these machines age, they need to be replaced with newer technologies.

Thanks to the support of generous community of donors, including The Honey and Barry Sherman Legacy Foundation, John and Jocelyn Barford, Jon and Nancy Love, and George and Kathy Dembroski, St. Michael’s upgraded two MRI machines earlier this year, with upgrades to the other two machines underway. At a large acute care hospital like St. Michael’s, which serves over 30,000 MRI patients annually, careful planning helps manage schedules and maintain access for patients.

That’s where the partnership with Schroeder Ambulatory Centre comes in.

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“The support we’re receiving from Schroeder Ambulatory Centre is creating capacity for us to upgrade our machines, while ensuring that we have continuity of care,” says Altaf Stationwala, President and CEO of Unity Health. “In a health care system that’s challenged for capacity, the best way to ensure patients receive timely access to care is by working collaboratively.”

Schroeder Ambulatory Centre is a non-profit Integrated Community Health Services Centre in Richmond Hill, Ont., with conditional licensing from the Ministry of Health to provide gastrointestinal endoscopy and medical imaging services in the community. Applications for further licensing, which would expand available services, are underway.

The centre is the result of a generous philanthropic gift from Walter and Maria Schroeder, and was designed to reduce backlogs and empower Ontarians to enjoy a better quality of life.

“Schroeder Ambulatory Centre exists to minimize people’s pain, increase their mobility and improve health care efficiency,” says Laurie Thomas, Chief of Operations and Chief Nursing Officer at Schroeder Ambulatory Centre. “As a non-profit facility, every dollar is invested back into increasing timely access to care that improves quality of life, including through exciting hospital partnerships like this.”

This partnership is founded on a longstanding relationship between St. Michael’s and Walter and Maria Schroeder. The Schroeder Foundation is a significant benefactor of the hospital, and Walter Schroeder is a “visionary in trying to find new ways to improve access and grow capacity in our health care system,” says Stationwala.

As Schroeder Ambulatory Centre prepares to launch officially early next year, they’re engaging with hospitals across the GTA. Their model isn’t to replace hospitals or divert clinicians, but to provide support to the system.

Their location also allows patients who live north of the City of Toronto to obtain services and care closer to home.

“We built the Schroeder Ambulatory Centre to help people in pain get answers sooner,” says Walter Schroeder, Founder and Chair of the Schroeder Ambulatory Centre Board. “By creating immediate MRI capacity, we’re giving Unity Health the flexibility to upgrade its scanners without disrupting care for patients who need diagnostics to manage pain and mobility issues. This is exactly why the centre exists: to help patients overcome pain and improve their mobility, to move from A to B. In other words, to improve the quality of their lives.”

MRI technologist at Schroeder Ambulatory Centre prepares to scan St. Michael’s patient.

There’s also tremendous benefit for Unity Health clinicians.

“Through this partnership, our MRI technologists are gaining valuable hands-on experience with the same machines that we’re installing at St. Michael’s,” says Robin Watson, Manager of Medical Imaging at Unity Health. “This puts our St. Michael’s team at an advantage. When the upgrades are completed this summer, MRI services will be able to return to normal capacity sooner than anticipated. We truly appreciate Schroeder Ambulatory Centre for allowing us to keep up with our demand at St. Michael’s and continue to provide exceptional patient care at both locations.”

On Nov. 24, members of Unity Health’s senior leadership team visited Schroeder Ambulatory Centre to tour the new MRI space.

“This is a great supplementary element of the system to ensure that we can continue to advance health care, not just by having the best and the brightest minds, but also the most current technology,” says Stationwala. “We’re thankful to Schroeder Ambulatory Centre for their support during this time.”

Members of Unity Health Toronto’s, Schroeder Ambulatory Centre’s and St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation’s Leadership teams.

By Anna Wassermann

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