East Adams Rural Hospital, in Ritzville, has installed a $372,000 advanced computed-tomography (CT) scanner for speedier diagnosis at its 20-bed facility.

The Toshiba Aquilion 16 scanner, which was installed in April, has replaced an outdated machine and has improved quality and speed of imaging, says Bruce Garner, the hospital's imaging manager. The hospital is located near the junction of Interstate 90 and Highway 395 in Ritzville, which is about 60 miles west of Spokane. The hospital has a 24-hour emergency room, acute inpatient care, and hospital beds for short-term stays. In addition to Ritzville, it serves the nearby communities of Lind and Washtucna.

"We have two major freeways that converge right here, so we see our fair share of auto accidents," says Garner, about the new scanner's use in diagnosis. "This is particularly important when determining the extent of injuries in trauma cases, where every second counts."

The Adams County Public Hospital District No. 2 operates the hospital and other medical clinics in the area, with a regional coverage that includes about 1,500 square miles, Garner adds. The Ritzville hospital has about 69 employees, including emergency medical technicians who serve the Ritzville, Lind, and Washtucna communities.

The new machine from Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. can acquire 16 anatomical images at once. Its scanning capability is 400 milliseconds to rotate around a patient's body that effectively reduces any image distortion from scanning moving organs, such as the heart. As a result, the scanner delivers clinical images depicting fine details, including minute coronary arteries, and assists physicians who need to diagnose diseases, cancer, blood clots, and infections, the hospital says. The system's computer creates three-dimensional images that are interpreted by a clinician.

The scanner has "the latest dose-reducing computer software," Garner says. "This machine is able to create the same quality of images with about 40 percent less dose of radiation."

He adds, "It's important to have this technology so we can take care of people when they need us."