The Virginian-Pilot
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NORFOLK
The staff of the Virginia Department of Health recommended approval for Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters' proposal to add a second magnetic resonance imaging unit, according to a report released Tuesday.
CHKD requested permission from the state health commissioner to add the machine to ease a backlog that has forced patients to wait up to four weeks for a scan.
In their application, CHKD officials gave several reasons for the backlog.
MRIs on children can take longer because young patients often require sedation or anesthesia. CHKD also is expanding its MRI services to include more cardiac and fetal scans, which take longer than other scans.
MRIs are becoming more popular for pediatric patients due to concerns about radiation from computed tomography scans.
The hospital recently installed a new $1.6 million CT scanner that gives doses of up to 51 percent less radiation than the old machine, according to calculations by CHKD staff members.
The MRI project would cost about $5.2 million, which would be paid from existing reserves, according to the Health Department staff report. CHKD has estimated that a new MRI machine would bring an annual profit of about $1 million.
A final decision on the project is expected by early September. The new scanner could be in service by next summer.
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ANOTHER COUPLE OF MILLION
Wasnt there an article the other day about CHKD buying a new 1.6 million dollar CT machine because it is better and has less radiation and now they are going to buy another MRI machine cause radiation is bad and th edemand for MRI is going up vs CT for kids. I thought CHKD is having a tough time with money but they seem to be buying a lot of new equipment.
Another MRI for CHKD?
Don't waste important medical dollars on additional expensive equipment when the hospital could run the current machine 24 hours a day to cut the backlog. People don't mind getting an MRI in the wee hours - they just want to have the availability.
CHKD MRI
Actually this is an excellent decision by CHKD, one long needed. No, I do not work for them. CT and MRI have become invaluable tools. When was the last time your Doctor said "exploratory surgery is needed". Now in 5-30 minutes you can get good useful information without getting cut open. And no, it is difficult to get outpatients patients in during the "wee" hours. Families work, there are registration staffing hours, etc, Others have tried that concept, it isn't reasonable nor fiscally responsible. In addition, often to scan children sedation is required, nursing and physician support needed. CT and MRI are both needed because they complement eachother, Kudos to CHKD for this application and best wishes.