WV Executive

West Virginia University Hospitals-East’s City Hospital held an open house on Wednesday to showcase the new Breast Care Center and MRI suite.

Community leaders, physicians, board directors and staff gathered to celebrate the completion of the $2 million project which was initiated last year to relocate and expand the hospital’s Breast Care Center and enhance MRI services by replacing the MRI equipment.

According to Selwyn Persad, radiology manager, the new Philips Ingenia MRI featuring a 1.5 Tesla magnet has been installed, tested and is now operational. It features a wider bore (70cm) to better accommodate claustrophobic patients and has a weight limit of 550 pounds.

“Our new MRI has built in coils for total body imaging and is faster than our old unit. The average scan time has been cut in half, with most procedures taking 20 to 30 minutes,” Persad said. “With the special breast coil, we are also able to perform breast scans here at City Hospital, eliminating the need to send patients out of the area for this procedure,” he added.

Stereotactic breast biopsy was another women’s imaging service added with the opening of the new Breast Care Center in late 2011. The Center was moved across the hallway from the MRI suite to improve access for patients and allow more space for the stereotactic breast biopsy service.

“All of these improvements will allow us to better meet the needs of our patients as the demand for women’s health imaging services grow,” Persad said.