Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center unveiled its new MRI Imaging Center of Niagara on Tuesday, offering local residents a closer option for potentially life-saving scans.
The centerpiece of the $3 million addition is a new 3T MRI machine, containing a stronger magnet used for more rapid and detailed scans of patients in turn leading to a faster diagnosis. It is the first such unit to operate in Niagara County, serving patients in the emergency department, Heart Center, and oncology center.
Outpatient appointments start at the 10th Street campus on Monday.
“Our new MRI technology is much more than just an advancement,” said hospital President and CEO Joseph Ruffolo. “It represents hope. It represents the promise of better health outcomes for our patients across the Niagara Region.”
Southtowns Radiology, the hospital’s diagnostic imaging partner, will manage the MRI Imaging Center’s operations. It will be used for detecting cardiovascular diseases, strokes and early-stage cancers.
Early detection is crucial in Niagara County where the mortality rate from breast cancer is 18.2% higher than the state average and the mortality rate from prostate cancer is over 27% higher than the state average.
In 2023, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center had to transfer about 180 patients either suffering from a stroke or in a stroke-like situation to Buffalo General Medical Center, something Chief of Emergency Medicine Gerald Gorman said put burdens on the patients for needing transportation and the community since those resources are outside the city.
“Now that the machine is here, we’re going to be able to provide immediate care to inpatients and emergency patients without the need for transportation here to the Summit (Medical Campus) or some other facility,” added Dr. Mark Perry of Southtowns Radiology.