At $2.5 million for the machine and another $1 million for renovations of the area of the hospital where it is housed, the recently arrived MRI machine is an expensive undertaking.

But both Dr. Daniel Stovell, Director of Diagnostic Imaging at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, and Elaine Williams, manager of Diagnostic Imaging, assure that the unit will pay for itself, now that Bermudians don't have to go abroad for MRI scans.

“There has never been an MRI machine installed that didn't made money, that's what I've been told by GE (makers General Electric) themselves,” said Dr. Stovell.

“It cost a lot of money but it will pay for itself much easier than almost any piece of equipment in this whole hospital.”

Said Mrs. Williams: “The other thing you have to consider is the number of people who travel outside the Island to get an MRI.”

Wednesday was exactly a month since the machine arrived in Bermuda and within the next month the machine will be fully operational. The official opening of the MRI/CT Suite is planned for next April.

Dr. Stovell, who has been working at the hospital for seven years, remembers hearing talk of an MRI machine for Bermuda even before then. When the Bermuda Hospitals Board made the decision to get the machine a lot of planning had to get into it.

“It has taken strategic planning as far as administration,” Mrs. Williams revealed.

“There have been finance teams, project management teams and even transportation teams that involved General Electric and local contractors, just to get the unit on the Island and in place.”

There have been some donations received to help offset the costs but the unit is not yet paid for.

“I've been Director for about two years and over that period of time we've been in talks with MRI companies and each year the price tended to stay the same but what you got was more for your money,” explained Dr. Stovell.

“So some things that might have been optional one year, the next year you would get them as a base price. That was part of why it became feasible.”

And there were other things to consider than just the scans once the machine was operating.

“We have a department that makes a lot of pictures every day and we have to deal with those pictures without losing them and storing them properly,” said Dr. Stovell.

“We had to get a new film library that is larger and more coordinated before we even considered putting more pressure on a system that wasn't functioning optimally. We had to find space for that and we have additional staff to deal with that area now.

“Our film management is done by computer and that all ties into our new Radiology information system which is the computer system we use to run our department. We got that in April and it enables us to keep track of where the films are every time they move from room to room.

“We can scan them and if somebody is looking for a film they can electronically look on the computer and say ‘I know where to go and look for those'. We couldn't do that before.”

Dr. Stovell and Mrs. Williams revealed that the hospital was looking into the possibility of going to electronic imaging (filmless) which Mrs. Williams says is “the general trend for most hospitals our size”.

“The MRI arrived on October 20 and what we're doing is preparing the MRI suite and the technologists. The Bermuda Hospitals Board has partnered with Johns Hopkins Hospital to train our staff, technologists and Radiologists, to provide the MRI service to our community.

“To purchase the MRI unit was $2.5 million and it will cost us another $1 million to renovate our existing site to the standards to provide the service.”

The area where the MRI unit is located will also have preparation and recovery areas for patients, the latter for those who have to be sedated prior to the procedure. The machine is still in the housing that it was shipped in, the unit attached to the hospital building.

Bermudians have eagerly awaited the arrival of the machine and the response so far has been very favourable, said Mrs. Williams.

“It's a community effort, not just a Bermuda Hospitals Board or Diagnostic Imaging undertaking but a community undertaking,” said Mrs. Williams.

“The interest and the encouragement has been overwhelming. We have found our clients very educated, several of them have had MRI scans and several are informed about the MRI process because of the internet and things like that.

“This effort of introducing the MRI service to Diagnostic Imaging is part of an overall commitment to our community, to partner with them in an effort to provide them with a comprehensive Diagnostic Imaging Service.”