(1/18/13) – In an effort to continually grow and enhance medical services to the people in Horry County and beyond, McLeod Seacoast announces a new addition to the Radiology department coming in February 2013: the Optima* MR450w.  McLeod Seacoast is the only facility in the Coastal Carolinas to install this revolutionary new MRI machine.  

A group of leaders from the community and members of the Seacoast team traveled to Florence to tour the GE plant, who manufactured the MRI.  The GE engineers showed the McLeod Seacoast team the step-by-step process of how their own magnet was manufactured.  During the tour, the attendees were able to sign the magnet for the McLeod Seacoast MRI.

The GE plant in Florence is a global MRI manufacturer, and is a leading supplier of healthcare equipment throughout the world. “We have always appreciated our long-standing business relationship with McLeod Health in the Florence community, and we are very excited about the decision to include our new Optima* MR450w with GEM Suite as part of their expanding facilities at McLeod Seacoast,” said Eric Hinton, Global Supply Chain Executive for the Florence MRI Magnet Plant.

This new piece of medical technology was made possible by a grant from the McLeod Loris Seacoast Healthcare Foundation. "Our local community really stepped up in our most recent capital campaign and made the funds possible. We could not have provided such a gift without their support," said Frank Boulineau, McLeod Loris Seacoast Foundation Board Chair.  The McLeod Loris Seacoast Healthcare Foundation raises money to provide McLeod Loris Seacoast with additional resources for program, equipment and educational needs.

The new MRI system will be unveiled and in service by February 2013.