Payson Roundup

Courtesy of PRMC

Courtesy of PRMC

The new open bore MRI machine at PRMC will make it easier for those who are larger or claustrophobic to get the exams they need without leaving town.

Courtesy of PRMC

Payson Regional Medical Center is bringing some of the latest equipment to enhance its imaging services.

Digital mammography equipment will be in place by early summer.

Work is scheduled to start on an addition to the radiology department to house a new open bore magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.

With the digital mammography equipment the PRMC staff can do approximately 28 exams each day compared to the 14 it is able to do now, according to Kacey Eichacker, director of PRMC’s diagnostic imaging/radiology department.

“If extra views are needed, they can be done immediately,” she said. Currently, if more information is needed from a mammography exam it usually requires making a new appointment.

The open bore MRI will make it possible for larger and claustrophobic patients to stay in Payson, Eichacker said. The machine will provide better images and make it possible to do abdomen and chest imaging.

“Any work that had to be done in the Valley, can now be done here,” she said.

Additionally, the new MRI could draw patients to PRMC from the Verde Valley, the Show Low area and Globe.

The new equipment represents an investment of approximately $2 million by PRMC.