William Smith (73), of Waikouaiti, has criticised the health system as subpar after a letter notifying him of a waiting time of more than a year and a half for his scan at Dunedin Hospital.
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand (HNZ) has apologised to those experiencing delays and said it was committed to providing care as quickly as possible.
Long wait times were "not uncommon" for cardiac MRI scans because of the specialist skills and equipment required, it said.
Mr Smith had a heart attack last June and, after an inconclusive CT angiogram and an echocardiogram, he needed an MRI.
Unwilling to wait so long — and having experienced another "scare" last month — he looked into going private with Pacific Radiology.
It could provide a scan within 21 days, but the cost of $3500 was prohibitive.
Although he had initially booked the scan, other circumstances arose which caused him to cancel it.
Communication with HNZ had also been fraught, and nobody seemed to know what was happening with his case, he said.
"This whole situation, since I’ve been involved with it, is all about obfuscation."
He was angry the public system made someone who had a heart attack wait 84 weeks for an MRI when they were available so quickly for those who could pay.
He questioned how many other people were being impacted, and why the public system did not work more closely with the private system.
"We’re talking about people who are seriously ill. I think it’s absolutely disgraceful."
HNZ interim southern hospital and specialist services leader Hamish Brown said cardiac MRI scans required both a cardiologist and radiologist, as well as specific software and hardware for the scanner.
To reduce the risk to patients posed by long waits, all cardiac MRI referrals were prioritised by a cardiologist, he said.
Last year, the average wait for the scan was 155 days, or more than five months.
The waiting list was reviewed frequently to put the most urgent patients first.
HNZ made use of resources available in the private sector to increase the number of cardiac MRI examinations available to its patients, he said.
"Our radiology department also expects that with the purchase of new cardiac reporting software and continued reductions in MRI waits, it should be in a position to provide more cardiac MRI examinations and reduce the wait time for this examination towards the middle of 2023."
There were at present 94 patients waiting for an appointment.
Waiting could be "distressing and frustrating", and HNZ encouraged people with concerns to contact HNZ.
