New MRI Equipment Being Installed at MM Hospital
New MRI equipment is being installed at Meeker Memorial Hospital in Litchfield. The project began in late January, and the new equipment should be ready for patients by the end of April.
Meeker Memorial’s Imaging Services Manager Lynn Juell says planning actually began a year ago and this is a flagship project as it’s the first such project in the whole state in which an upgrade is being made without having to remove the old magnet from the room which would usually require knocking out a wall – saving a lot of money in construction costs.
Juell says the new equipment will include a larger space for patients with a weight limit of 500 pounds so it will be less claustrophobic. She says it will also be faster, with better audio equipment, less rigid and patients can go in feet first rather than head first. Patients have had to use a mobile unit in the Meeker Memorial Hospital parking lot the past few weeks, but the new MRI equipment should be ready by the end of April.