New hospital CT scanner will greatly upgrade radiology services

The Board of Trustees of Winneshiek Medical Center has approved spending $784,500 to buy a Siemens AS 128 Slice CT Scanner.

128-slice scanners are the latest generation of CT scanners.  WMC Radiology Department employee Sarah Urmanski on Wednesday night told hospital board members the new CT scanner would be a big improvement over the hospital's 14-year-old scanner.  Urmanski says the 128-slice scanner will be 8 centimeters wider, can hold up to 676 pounds and uses half as much radiation.

The radiology staff recommended buying the Siemens 128-slice CT scanner after visiting other hospitals and talking with Mayo Clinic officials.  The new scanner can scan the whole body in seconds and produce images that better allow doctors to spot problems in a patient.

Urmanski says she was also impressed that the manufacturer is guaranteeing a maximum 2-hour response time when there are any problems.

The hospital will use a mobile CT scan unit during the upgrade to the new scanner.