One concern of the critics is why Radiology Associates would buy its new General Electric Co.-built, 64-slice CT scanner if the contract is only meant to be short term, according to reports.

Some politicians argued that the public system could deliver health care more efficiently, the Sun said.

"It's hard to imagine how this will be good, consistent, universal service when it's a for-profit company," said Megan Leslie, a member of parliament with the left-wing New Democratic Party, according to the paper.

But Jim Slater, the region's executive director of diagnostic imaging, denied that outsourcing CT scans was in any way creeping toward privatization, the Leader-Post said.

"With this third-party contract, we are in compliance with the Canada Health Act --so this is not a private provider," he said.

Radiology Associates, whose contract calls for it to begin offering scans in May, also denied there were any privatization worries, according to CJME radio.

Saskatchewan is thought to be the birthplace of Canada's government-funded universal health insurance, called Medicare, with the program's roots ultimately traced to the 1947 Saskatchewan Hospitalization Act.

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