MIC Medical Imaging: Bringing decades of trusted care to a modern healthcare setting
MIC Medical Imaging is now open on the second floor of the Stelmach Community Health Centre, the first phase of the Covenant Wellness Community. One of the radiology groups that founded MIC opened at the Tawa Centre in 1989 and has served southeast Edmonton for more than 35 years. The practice now works under the same roof as the family doctors, specialty clinics and labs in the building.
A personal connection to imaging excellence
Kandis DeColle, site manager at MIC Lakewood, brings both professional expertise and profound personal understanding to her role. Starting as an ultrasound technologist with MIC in 2002, Kandis spent 15 years performing scans before becoming the company's first ultrasound educator in 2017. She moved into management just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2024, Kandis was diagnosed with breast cancer.
"I'm a breast cancer survivor — I was diagnosed in 2024," says Kandis. "The only reason I was diagnosed was because I had access to our company's ABUS machines."
ABUS, or automated breast ultrasound, provides a secondary screening tool for dense breast tissue. For Kandis, this technology proved lifesaving.
"The type of cancer I had was not visible on a mammogram or anything else, not because of an error with anyone performing the exam or reading the test results, it was just the way that the tissue masked the cancer," says Kandis. "For me, being able to offer that service has a lot of meaning because I've seen firsthand how important it is for early detection."
Kandis's cancer was caught early enough that she didn't require chemotherapy or a mastectomy, just a lumpectomy and radiation. Without access to ABUS technology, her story could have been very different.
"I would have probably still not known that I had it, and it could have been getting bigger," she says.
Honouring heritage in a new space
The move from Tawa Centre to the Stelmach Community Health Centre brought decades of history along with the equipment.
In the Plains Cree language, "tawâw" means "welcome, there is room" or "come in, you're welcome." The Tawa Centre, which opened in 1989 with one of MIC's founding radiology groups, has carried this spirit of welcome and belonging throughout its years of operation, says Kandis. Many MIC staff members and technologists moving to the Stelmach Community Health Centre location have spent their entire careers at Tawa.
MIC designed a feature wall inside its new space that pays tribute to the Tawa name and its cultural significance.
"One of the reception staff has worked with MIC since 1989, and when she saw that, it brought a tear to her eye," says Kandis. "It was just so important and meaningful for her to have that connection."
When the team arrived and discovered that the Stelmach Community Health Centre building itself also incorporates Indigenous acknowledgment and artwork, the connection felt even deeper.
"I love the Indigenous land acknowledgement and how they've incorporated Indigenous artwork in the building," says Kandis. "When we moved in and saw that was part of the building, it was really meaningful."
Comprehensive imaging services under one roof
MIC Lakewood offers a full range of diagnostic imaging services designed to meet diverse community needs. The clinic provides nuclear medicine imaging, including bone scans and lung scans, along with cardiac studies that include echocardiograms and MIBI stress tests. Pain management services using live X-ray guidance allow physicians to inject medication directly where patients need it.
"That's always a busy service for us, which is a great one because you get almost instant results," says Kandis. "You come, you've got some pain in your knee, (we) inject some cortisone and you leave feeling better. That's always a nice thing as a healthcare provider to see the results of your work."
The clinic has two X-ray rooms, open until 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. MIC also provides mammography, bone density scanning and extensive ultrasound services. Ultrasound is one of the clinic's largest service areas, with established relationships with the Southside Women's Health Centre and obstetricians from the Grey Nuns Community Hospital.
The power of integrated care
Kandis expects the mix of providers at the Stelmach Community Health Centre to open up new ways of working together.
"It's exciting to collaborate with other tenants to find ways we can work together to better serve our clients here," says Kandis. "It's one of a kind in Alberta, so I'm really honoured to have this unique opportunity."
Operating within an integrated healthcare environment allows MIC to build relationships that directly benefit patients. Instead of relying solely on physician-to-physician communication, the co-located model enables patient-centred co-ordination.
This proximity proves particularly valuable for orthopedic patients who need imaging and cast changes, diabetes clinic patients requiring co-ordinated care and cardiac patients accessing echocardiography and stress testing services.
"It's so great for patients not to have to travel to see their doctor and then for imaging and back, or whatever it might be," says Kandis.
Accessible design that reduces stress
The Stelmach Community Health Centre was built with the same patient-centred thinking MIC brings to its own clinics. Kandis notes how the building's accessibility features go beyond basic requirements to support patient mobility and comfort.
"I've noticed everything here is built with accessibility in mind," says Kandis.
MIC incorporated similar accessibility thinking into its clinic design, including rooms equipped with lifts for patients who cannot transfer themselves.
The building's atmosphere also makes a difference for patients facing stressful medical appointments.
"Coming for exams can be stressful for some folks," says Kandis. "I think coming into a nice bright facility with the beautiful artwork makes you feel a little bit more at ease coming for your appointments."
The abundance of natural light and thoughtful design creates an environment that feels less clinical and more welcoming.
In-house expertise, available every day
MIC has more than 100 radiologists and is the most subspecialized partnership in Alberta, with expertise in abdominal imaging, breast imaging, nuclear medicine and cardiac, interventional, musculoskeletal, neuro, pediatric and other procedures. This depth of expertise extends across MIC's 15 community clinics and 17 Edmonton-area hospitals and community health centres where MIC radiologists provide services.
Patients and referring physicians can be confident that the radiologist reading their imaging at an MIC clinic or an Edmonton hospital is a specialist in that area. With the largest network of subspecialty radiologists in the province to consult every day, MIC can read the most complex and rare cases within the partnership.
That depth also shapes how technologists learn on the job.
"Our radiologists are always very involved and supportive of staff training and education," says Kandis. "When I was an ultrasound tech, I would go and physically sit in front of my radiologist and discuss the case, and if something needed to be added on, I would do it right then instead of having the patient come back."
Those conversations still happen every day, in person or by video call when a radiologist is reading off site. Recent changes to provincial guidelines allow ultrasound exams to be reported remotely, and MIC is adjusting how it runs the Lakewood clinic to use them, including weekend appointments supported by remote reporting. Either way, a technologist can get an answer during the exam, so an extra image or view can be added while the patient is still in the room.
A legacy of community service
MIC was formed in 1996 with the merger of four local radiology groups, including the group at Tawa, and marks its 30th anniversary in 2026. It has grown into Alberta's largest radiology partnership while keeping its work in community clinics.
The move to the Stelmach Community Health Centre keeps MIC in the same southeast Edmonton community it has served since 1989, now in a building designed for integrated, patient-centred care.
"Everyone's really proud of the work that we've done at Tawa, being able to provide the services we do for the community," says Kandis. "So I think that full circle moment in the acknowledgement of the land that we practice on as well as the people that we serve here is really great."
For patients in Mill Woods and southeast Edmonton, MIC Lakewood offers the same technologists and radiologists they have relied on for decades, now in a building where much of the rest of their care happens too.
Kandis has both professional pride in the move and personal gratitude for the imaging technology that caught her cancer and that she now helps provide to others.
"Being able to offer that service in this kind of integrated environment means we can better serve our clients' overall health and wellness needs," she says.
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