For the past five years, Prowers Medical Center has been working on updating technology available in the imaging department, allowing patients access to convenient imaging services right here in our community. The nuclear medicine camera and CT scanner were recently updated and the mammography unit was replaced with a state-of-the-art three-dimensional scanning machine.

“We have the same equipment as a Level 1 Trauma Center,” said Amber Rider, Project Manager at Prowers Medical Center. “Our patients do not need to travel to big-city imaging centers to get quality diagnostic images. All of our imaging equipment and technology is as good — if not better — than what you’d find at larger hospitals.”

Now, thanks to support from the Prowers Medical Center Foundation’s Priceless Pictures Campaign, a Colorado Department of Local Affairs Energy/Mineral Impact Assistance Fund grant and funding from hospital operations, Prowers Medical Center will soon have updated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology and an upgraded space to house it. The $3.6 million project has been in the works for the past two years.

Virtual Tour of the New MRI Suite

Available on Prowers Medical Center’s Facebook and website.

For more information about the new MRI building and to schedule appointments, call Prowers Medical Center Imaging Services at 719-336-6762.

The MRI unit will feature the largest bore available on the market. It will also allow patients to receive their care inside of Prowers Medical Center rather than outside in a trailer in the parking lot. In the past, patients, who suffered from a variety of injuries and illnesses, were exposed to all types of weather conditions while being lifted on an exterior elevator into the trailer.

“This means that we are better able to accommodate patients that are claustrophobic or have a larger stature,” Rider said. “The room was also designed to incorporate special features to help patients relax.”

What The New MRI Technology Provides

MRI technology is a fast, safe, non-invasive and pain-free way to look at organs and structures inside your body. The machine uses a large magnet and radio waves to create images that healthcare professionals use to diagnose a variety of conditions, from torn ligaments to tumors.

“The new MRI images are of such amazing clarity and details that providers are able to pinpoint many pathologies that occur in the brain, spine, body or extremities that were not visible radiologically before,” Rider said.

The new technology not only translates to faster imaging times — a general knee scan would take 45 minutes, now with the new unit will only take about 18 minutes from start to finish — but also, this new unit allows providers to see details that they previously couldn’t.

“In trained hands, the MRI discovers tumors that might have been missed before. It detects aneurysms, neural and spinal conditions, and diagnoses illnesses before they become serious,” Rider said. “It does all this without biopsies or exploratory surgery.”

Open to Patients This Month

After two years of working on the campaign to acquire this building and technology, construction began this past April and officials say the new MRI building project is now complete and patients are currently being scheduled for this modality.

“We wanted to make sure that the MRI was located in the best possible space for patient comfort, experience, safety and staff workflows,” Rider said.

Prowers Medical Center has undergone vast changes in its long history but the commitment to provide state-of-the-art care has not moved out of focus.

“We are very proud of today’s hospital,” Rider said. “The fact that this level of healthcare is available locally is a tremendous benefit to the community. It means so much to all of us not to travel out of town for healthcare.”