St. Albert woman declares husband's MRI bill outstanding "Fix it, if you're a man of honour" --Hooper to Klein Allyson Jeffs, Provincial Affairs Writer The Edmonton Journal  File Photo / Health Minister Gary Mar Saturday 22 July 2000  A St. Albert woman is continuing her fight to have Premier Ralph Klein honour his "guarantee" medically necessary MRIs will be paid by the public health system.  Charlene Hooper said she's "offended" by a letter from Health Minister Gary Mar saying she won't be reimbursed for a $475 MRI her husband needed earlier this year.  Hooper made headlines in May when she wrote Klein asking that the MRI, obtained to diagnose her husband's protruding disc, be covered by Alberta Health.  Klein forwarded the request to Mar who told Hooper in a July 6 letter that because her husband "chose to obtain MRI services in a private clinic" it will not be publicly funded.  Hooper said her husband, Mourie, was forced to obtain the MRI privately because he was in so much pain and distress, he couldn't stand to wait between nine and 12 months for the diagnostic test.  She said she couldn't stand by "day after day watching my husband just sit in absolute pain, not sleeping and not being able to work and knowing that financially everything was falling away from us."  Mourie, a mechanic and heavy equipment operator, doesn't get paid if he doesn't work, Hooper said. She works as a teaching assistant but doesn't earn enough to support them and their three children.  Hooper said Mourie had to leave work April 25 because of severe neck and shoulder pain.  His neck was put in a brace, he was placed on pain killers and was told by a doctor he needed an MRI test to determine further treatment.  Hooper says they were told "time was of the essence" as damage could become permanent if left untreated.  Rather than wait, Hooper said they jumped the queue by borrowing money from friends and family to pay for the MRI.  She sent the invoice to the government when she learned Klein made a "guarantee" in the legislature April 12 that "if a doctor prescribes an MRI, that will be paid for by the publicly funded health care system whether it's in a hospital or whether it's in a private clinic."  Mar explained in his letter MRI services in private clinics are not covered unless the costs have been assumed by the regional health authority.  In a Journal interview, he said it's up to doctors to ensure needy patients are moved up the list.  "(The procedure) can be done within hours if it's urgently needed," he said.  Hooper said much seems to depend "on your definition of urgent."  She's sent another letter to Mar asking him to honour Klein's guarantee and "repair this situation so no other Albertans will have to endure the hardship our family did."  Mar said the province is buying four new MRIs and he hopes to see waiting lists shrink once they are on stream.  Capital Health spokesperson Leslie Beard said "everybody recognizes that we have to reduce the waiting lists on MRIs. It is unacceptable and the government has recognized that."  Two of the new MRIs will be on stream in Edmonton next year. In the meantime, Capital Health is contracting out 2,000 MRI procedures to cut its waiting list which currently has 3,000 patients on it.  To ensure there isn't a shortage of technicians, Capital Health and NAIT have joined efforts to create a program to train technicians needed to run the machines.  Fifteen students are set to start classes this fall in the first training program of its kind in Alberta.  Hooper is pleased to hear waiting lists will be reduced but she's still pushing for Klein to keep his word.  "A guarantee is a guarantee. Fix it, if you're a man of honour." 09:04 07/22/2000 http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news1/stories/000722/4494318.html