JRMC permanent MRI machine up and running

Jones Regional Medical Center patients won’t need to go outside the main hospital building to get an MRI anymore.

The hospital recently installed a permanent Siemens Magnetom Altea 1.5 in a newly built suite inside the hospital. The facility’s previous MRI suite was inside a semi-trailer truck that parked behind the hospital two and a half days each week. The new MRI will be available for appointments Monday through Friday, essentially doubling its hours.

Amy Keltner, JRMC’s community development director, said the hospital is exploring the possibility of extending the MRI’s availability into the weekend as well. Right now, appointments can be made from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

“We were … one of the only small hospitals in our area who did not have MRI on site,” Keltner said. “We saw that as an opportunity. (At some other hospitals) there is a five-to-six-week wait for people needing MRIs, and if you are needing an MRI that is not the wait you want to hear … we want to be able to meet that need.”

Keltner said the hospital invested $5 million in the new amenity -- $1.5 million for the machine itself and another $3.5 to build out the room in which is sits, which was formerly an ambulance bay. Constructing the MRI suite -- and installing the machine -- was quite the job.

“We pushed the ambulance drop-off location back farther and we built on an extension of the building,” Keltner said. “One of the things we needed to do is put an extra cement pad in because the machine is so heavy that you can’t sit it on the regular ground.”

Keltner said when the machine was delivered in December, it was hoisted in through a set of open doors with a crane. The room is lined with copper to ensure the magnetic MRI machine does not interfere with metal, and the roof has a rubberized coating.

JRMC took great care in designing the machine’s new home to meet patient needs, Keltner explained.

Thanks to funds from the Jones Regional Medical Center Foundation, the hospital purchased and installed a lighting and sound system with a television. The all-in-one system is designed to create a calm atmosphere for folks who can be nervous undergoing an MRI scan.

“Because it can be a stressful situation, our patients are able to choose the color of the lights and choose what’s on TV,” Keltner said. “They can have calming sounds or their favorite music. On the TV they can use a streaming service if they have one.”

The television -- specially designed for use inside an MRI suite -- was $75,000, Keltner said.

The door to the MRI suite is thick like a bank vault, Keltner said, and has the option to become transparent or frosted for people who feel claustrophobic inside the suite.

In total, the Foundation raised $230,000 for these added amenities.

The MRI’s first day of operation was Jan. 7 and its schedule is not yet full.

   Keltner said each day supplies a “steady flow” of patients using the MRI machine. Anyone needing an MRI can call the hospital’s billing department to discuss insurance coverage and costs, Keltner said.