New interventional angiography facilities and equipment are coming to Health Sciences Centre's Diagnostic Centre of Excellence.

Two old suites, with old equipment, are being replaced by three new suites and new equipment.

Dr. Perry Gray, vice president and chief medical officer at HSC and at Shared Health, says interventional angiography involves diagnosing and treating patients through their blood vessels.

"For some patients, it's a wonderful alternative to traditional open surgery. No big incisions that hurt for a long time, home sooner from hospital, and a quicker recovery. For other patients, interventional angiography at HSC is their only option," said Gray at today's announcement inside what will be one of the new suites.

The new equipment is scheduled to come online in 2020.

"With our current equipment, we perform over 4,600 procedures annually. The new equipment will enable us to double that," said Dr. Gray.

The project is getting $5-million from local businessman Paul Albrechtsen and $5.2-million from the province.