Hospital shows off new diagnostic, surgical equipment
Local and area residents had an opportunity Sunday to see new, state-of-the-art equipment at St. Luke Hospital.
Marion County Hospital District #1 recently purchased three new pieces of equipment — an anesthesia machine, CT scanner, and nuclear medicine imaging system.
Employees gave tours of the facility and explained the uses of the new equipment and recent changes.
The former obstetrics suite has become a minor procedures room. The hospital discontinued delivering babies two years ago.
Joe Pickett, radiology department director, told visitors that the new dual head camera on the nuclear medicine machine will increase the resolution of the images — making the pictures more clear and crisp, and showing more detail.
The computer software is the newest of its kind, said Pickett, and the system does not require processing of film.
Radiology technician J.R. Ewing demonstrated the uses of the CT scanner. The machine can make eight rotations per second which reduces the amount of time patients spend being X-rayed.
The images can be burned on a disk which the patient can take with them to the doctor instead of film.
The hospital averages 300 surgeries per year and 1,050 emergency room visits per year.
"We have equipment that rivals larger hospitals," said Pickett.
