Hospital installs new MRI machine

Doctors at a local hospital can now take an even closer look at their patients.

Madison Memorial Hospital unveiled its new state-of-the art MRI machine this week.

It offers clearer and more precise images of the inside of a patient’s body, and has a wider opening and shorter tube to accommodate larger and more claustrophobic patients.

Harley McCormick, the hospital’s head radiologist, also installed an ambient lighting system and an iPad for patients to select music during the MRI. He says getting the patient to relax can help with the entire process.

“If (patients) are able to hold still for us and they’re able to relax in there and breathe a little bit less deep and things like that, it really adds to the quality of the image,” McCormick said.

McCormick said the MRI machine is the only one of its kind in eastern Idaho.

It cost more than $1.5 million.