Published: September 17, 2008 01:18 am      

LOCKPORT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: The MRI machine has finally arrived

It’s finally here.

Lockport Memorial Hospital welcomed its newest addition Tuesday morning — a brand new Siemens’ Magnetom Essenza magnetic resonance imaging machine. LMH won the MRI in January as the grand prize of a national contest held by Siemens Medical Solutions. The contest was open to hospitals that were without MRI service and had fewer then 150 beds.

Because of its size and where it was going to be located, the MRI had to be brought into Lockport Memorial in a special way — and that was through the roof.

“It was so exciting,” said Susan Wendler, LMH director of public relations. “It had to lowered into the building.”

Wendler said in order to get the MRI in, the hospital had to have a portion of the roof removed. A section was cut right above where the MRI would be placed, and a crane lowered the machine in. The entire roof will be resurfaced.

A good portion of the hospital staff was on hand to witness the arrival of the MRI.

The machine itself, and all of its parts, was delivered overnight because of the large truck needed to transport it. Workers are putting the rest of the MRI together, as well as finishing work on the wing that will house the machine.

Wendler said LMH is planning a public celebration sometime in early October.

The MRI, worth approximately $800,000, gives hospitals a look inside the human body without using radiation. The machine creates high resolution images that will help the hospital make more precise diagnoses and could eliminate the need for expensive and time-consuming follow-up exams.

Each participating hospital in the Siemens contest had to make a video about why they deserved the MRI. Everything in the video had to be done by the hospital staff, including the acting and production of the video. The videos were put on a Siemens Web site and voted on by the general public. LMH’s video, entitled “Is it here yet?” led the vote total early on, but fell to second and eventually third place in voting.

In the end, Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, Ga., had more votes, yet LMH was declared the winner. That’s because it turned out Sumter had an MRI at one time, but it was destroyed by a tornado. Siemens will donate an MRI to the hospital when it reopens in 2010. Siemens would not say if the second-place winner was disqualified.

Jeffrey Bundy, vice president of Magnetic Resonance at Siemens Medical Solutions USA, said Sumter’s situation and vote total “struck a chord” with Siemens, prompting the donation from the company.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.