Through a generous donation by the William N. Pennington Foundation, Nevada Rural Hospital Partners is proud to unveil the rollout of the new state-of-the-art Mobile MRI service at Battle Mountain General Hospital. The new unit will provide high-quality, cost-effective MRI services to northern Nevada frontier and rural communities, including Lander County.
“This Mobile MRI provides much needed and important diagnostic care to patients in their own communities,” said Joan Hall, president of Nevada Rural Hospital Partners. “Our mission is to assure the viability of rural healthcare and providing MRI services assists in meeting our mission.”
In 2020, NRHP was awarded a $1.6 million grant by the William N. Pennington Foundation to purchase the new Mobile MRI system that travels to four northern Nevada NRHP member hospitals:
•Battle Mountain General Hospital – Battle Mountain, Nevada
•Mt. Grant General Hospital – Hawthorne, Nevada
•Pershing General Hospital – Lovelock, Nevada
•South Lyon Medical Center – Yerington, Nevada
The Pennington Foundation was formed by the late William N. Pennington, a gaming industry pioneer and philanthropist; and provides grants to northern Nevada based organizations in the areas of education, community services, health care, and medical research.
The Mobile MRI uses a GE SIGNA™ Voyager 1.5 to scan patients and provides an enhanced level of patient comfort while providing the latest in diagnostic imaging technology. Some of the new scanner’s features include:
•GE’s proprietary SilentScan technology dramatically reduces scanning noise from an ear-splitting, motorcycle level of 91dB to within 3dB of scan room ambient noise. A wireless music system is also included for additional patient comfort.
•SIGNA Voyager makes scanning a worry-free experience for patients. The wide Comfort Plus table with low height and open 70cm design allows patients to rest freely while af-fording easy access and a comfortable scanning experience.
•GE’s patient-friendly design maximizes comfort and with the wider bore accommodates all types of scans and patient sizes. Feet first imaging option reduces claustrophobia re-jection rates by 90%.
•SIGNA Voyager provides astonishing images with remarkable speed during routine exam slots so the patient spends up to 50% less time in the scanner.
Battle Mountain General Hospital will be formally welcoming the trailer during a ribbon pulling ceremony on Friday, Nov.12 at 1 p.m.
About Nevada Rural Hospital Partners:
Nevada Rural Hospital Partners is an alliance of 13 small, rural and frontier hospitals, including Battle Mountain General Hospital.
Building on a long history of cooperation dating from the mid-1970’s, Nevada’s small, rural and frontier hospitals realized they are much stronger standing together than as isolated, unaffiliated entities. In 1987, with temporary funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Hospital Based Rural Healthcare Program, the group established a formal consortium intended to focus on solutions to the issues and challenges facing rural hospitals.
The foresight and commitment of individual hospital administrators, their boards, and hospital staff, as well as the dedication of Nevada Rural Hospital Partners staff, have resulted in a con-sortium that truly makes a positive difference. Learn more about Nevada Rural Hospital Partners at www.nrhp.org.
