"Day in the Life" helps set IU Health Saxony Imaging team up for success

As part of the Fishers Community Impact Project, Imaging team members at IU Health Saxony held a "Day in the Life" event, where they were able to interact with their new MRI space and equipment before it goes live.

By Charlotte Stefanski, cstefanski@iuhealth.org, writer for IU Health's Indianapolis Suburban Region

As part of the Fishers Community Impact Project, IU Health Saxony's Imaging department has been preparing to double in size. The team will soon hit a milestone in that feat, with the recent delivery of a second MRI machine, a 3T magnet.

On July 2, Imaging team members participated in a “Day in the Life” event, where they were able to interact with the new MRI space and equipment.

During the event, the team went through several mock scenarios that might occur when a patient is receiving an MRI.

"It helps us prepare for our go-live date and helps identify good processes, as well as bad processes," says Eddie Fernandez, supervisor for MRI, CT and Nuclear Medicine. "It prepares our team to be as ready as they can be and gives them an opportunity to look at the new area and become familiar with it."

The new scanner will be able to perform MRI prostate and brain spectroscopy scans. The 3T magnet will also allow additional MRI studies to be performed at the hospital.

The team officially began using the new scanner on July 9. The former scanner, a 1.5T magnet, will now be prepped to move to a new room. It will be reinstated this August, with both scanners being used.

Once both are up and running, the department will expand its MRI services to include evening hours, Monday through Friday.

"Eventually, when we're done with construction, the department will be doubling the time slots we currently have available, allowing us to scan more patients throughout the entire day," Fernandez says.

The work is all part of the Fishers Community Impact Project, a $300 million investment which includes a significant expansion of the IU Health Saxony Hospital—soon to be IU Health Fishers—campus and services, and the addition of offsite, outpatient access to primary care and specialists to more holistically meet the needs of Fishers and surrounding communities.

Once the project wraps up, the hospital’s Imaging department will have two MRI machines; two CT scanners; an additional ultrasound room; an additional mammography and ultrasound system dedicated to women’s health, which will increase mammography capabilities; and a second radiologist will be welcomed to the team.

As the Imaging department goes onto the next phase of construction, the team is staying engaged and excited for what's next.

"We try to focus on the new technology we have coming, the new areas. I think all of that's exciting—starting fresh and being able to put your fingerprints on the area and giving our team the opportunity the process as we go through it together," Fernandez says.

"This team has been very engaged throughout the entire process and have attended tons of planning meetings and really put their input into this space," adds Nancy Davison, director of Imaging at IU Health North, Saxony and Tipton hospitals. "This is a really good team, and this is the latest and greatest technology. We're very excited to have it here."