WMC Board approves purchase of a new MRI machine

Siemens Aera 1.5T MRI (photo courtesy of Siemens)

The Winneshiek Medical Center Board of Trustees has approved spending $1,600,165 on a new MRI machine for the hospital.

The Siemens Aera 1.5T MRI will replace the current 10-year old 1.5T GE regular boar MRI scanner.  The current MRI scanner and its software package cannot be upgraded further and cannot be converted to the new digital software.

The company's website says the MRI "provides excellent image quality and achieves up to 40 percent reduction of scan times...(which) reduces rescans through shorter breath hold times."

The scanner itself will cost $1,208,765, which will be financed through a capital lease.  Construction costs are estimated to cost $268,500, while other costs will total $122,900.