As a result of a public private partnership, the George Town’s hospital’s MRI services have been temporarily upgraded with the installation of a 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This is only the first step however, of a two-step process that will place a 3.0 Tesla MRI at the Hospital within one year.

This will dramatically increase its diagnostic capability for determining the severity of injuries or causes of illnesses. The introduction of the technology by the HSA partner 3T Cayman, which successfully responded to tender, is a huge enhancement for the provision of local health care and allows the Cayman Islands’ hospital to provide medical services unavailable elsewhere in the region.

Hospital CEO Lizzette Yearwood said the temporary MRI machine was an important addition to the services at the Cayman Islands Hospital. “The temporary 1.5 Tesla is located on the HSA compound in self-contained housing equipment developed especially for the MRI scanner,” she explained.

“The leap from a .03 to a 1.5 is a huge one for the provision of healthcare for Cayman’s residents. The immediate benefit is that residents who need MRI scans at higher resolution can now remain on island to have their procedures completed, thereby reducing the need for inconvenient travel, as well as the high costs,” Yearwood added.

By the end of the year 3T Cayman and the HSA will move forward further in its aims to provide high quality scanning facilities for its patients, with the installation of an even higher powered 3 tesla MRI scanner.

“The 3-tesla machine possesses a high field strength MRI that can show structures that have not ever been seen before,” said Dr Yaron Rado, spokesperson for 3T Cayman “With this machine blood vessel as small as 200 to 300 microns can be seen; this is an important benefit to doctors…Radiologists who have been testing the high field strength MRI in clinical settings, show results that the 3–tesla machines can do anything a workhorse 1.5–tesla scanner can, but can do it faster and better.  It really is about as good as you can get when it comes to MRI scanners.”

Yearwood noted that once installed, the 3-tesla machine will be the only one of that quality available in the region, including South Florida.

The installation of the machine will lead to some services moving and the hospital boss said patients need to look out for future notifications, as there will be some relocation of services once the 3-tesla arrives.

The public-private partnership allows the HSA to provide citizens enhanced and more convenient services while remaining within its budget.. 3T Cayman will assume responsibility for providing and maintaining the equipment, and for providing qualified staff. Officials said that cost savings will be realized because beneficiaries who would have previously needed to go off-Island will now be able to have their required procedures on island.

“With the installation of the 3-tesla MRI scanner at the end of the year we look forward to offering a service that is unprecedented within the region for the benefit of all Cayman residents,” Yearwood added.