MultiCare building MRI addition for new machine

The city of Spokane is reviewing a permit for MultiCare Deaconess Hospital to build an MRI room addition.

The estimated $1.2 million addition will house a new MRI machine designed to increase patient comfort, said Wade Hunt, Multicare Deaconess Hospital chief operating officer.

Hunt said patients with claustrophobia have issues with MRIs, but the GE Signa machine – which will cost at least as much as the addition itself – will allow patients to enter feet first, have a larger diameter and provide quicker scan times. Hunt said the machine will also help move the hospital’s speciality programs – neuro, cardiac, ortho and muscolskeletal imaging – forward.

“If you ever had an MRI, MRIs can take a while,” Hunt said. “Our scan times will be reduced, and overall we’re really excited about it providing a great patient experience.”

The GE Signa will replace the hospital’s 1.5 Tesla MRI.

The project’s general contractor is Spokane-based Bouten Construction, which also served as the contractor for Multicare’s Indigo “high-end” urgent care center in north Spokane. Nashville, Tennessee-based HFR Design Inc. is listed as the architect. The Spokane office of Coffman Engineers – which has worked with Kootenai Health on various addition projects – is the engineer.