Gozo General Hospital now has its own permanent MRI machine, the Health Ministry announced on Friday.

The machine – a 3.0 Tesla scanner – is the most modern machine in the country and cost €3 million.

For years, patients in Gozo had to cross to Malta to undergo an MRI scan. That changed at the start of the year, when the ministry placed a portable MRI machine in Gozo, as it worked to procure a permanent one.

So far, around 2,700 MRI scans have been carried out in Gozo using the portable machine, with around 70% of those scans being of Gozitan patients, the ministry said.

Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela said that the hospital needed infrastructural work to be able to house the permanent scanner. The Tesla 3 machine allows for more detailed diagnoses and specialised MRIs focused on the brain, heart, prostate, spine, liver and pancreas.

He thanked workers who carry out scans and said the government was committed to investing further into healthcare.

Waiting lists for MRI scans ballooned in recent years and reached close to 16,000 at the start of the year. Demand for the service has forced the government to resort of private sector operators and the minister recently indicated that waiting lists are dramatically down.