Chadron – Chadron Community Hospital and Health Services, a 25-bed critical access hospital located in the northwest corner of Nebraska, is excited to announce the newly installed Shimadzu X-ray Equipment.  Thanks to a $485,000.00 grant from the Helmsley Foundation, CCH was able to purchase two new Digital X-ray Rooms and a new Digital Portable x-ray.

Previously, one digital plate per exposure was used, and then fed into the Computed Radiology (CR) machine where the image was digitized and the plate erased for another use.  This meant that each image took a few minutes to process.  In the case of emergency patients the plate had to be brought back to the department to be ran, then the physician, or provider would come over to look at the images, thus having to leave the patient.

With the new system, there is only one plate and the image appears on the digital system within seconds of exposure.  With the ability to reuse the plates over and over without removing them, patients with broken extremities are only moved one time rather than multiple times.  With the portable in the ER, the image shows up immediately on the screen so the provider can view them right away without ever leaving the patient in the ER.

Jodi Danner, Director of Radiology adds, “I think it’s a big deal that between these and the new mammogram machine recently installed, the Radiology Department has received about a million dollars’ worth of equipment since December.  All of these improvements have come through grants or donations.  We are so very thankful to the Helmsley Foundation, the Schmechel estate and to the Chadron Hospital Foundation for the generous funding.”

To learn more about Chadron Community Hospital and how we are working to improve the patient experience and outcomes, please visit Chadron Community Hospital’s website https://www.chadronhospital.com.