Hillsboro hospital to get new CT scanner

Hillsboro Community Hospital has been awarded $837,000 in restricted federal money to purchase a new, more powerful CT scanner, hospital chief executive Malea Hartvickson said Tuesday.

The money comes through the Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion initiative.

The new scanner will replace its existing 68-slice scanner with a machine closer to the industry standard of about 128 slices, she said.

It will include a cardiac package, giving the hospital better diagnostic ability, Hartvickson said.

”We don’t treat trauma or cardiac, and this will have a cardiac package that will allow better diagnostic ability and quicker transfer,” Hartvickson said.

The hospital hopes to have the scanner installed and running by the end of September, though paperwork and space logistics still are being set.

The scanner will not increase costs for patients because it is not being financed through patient fees, she said.

The Rural Health Transformation Program is administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.