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Marian Regional New and Advanced 3T MRI Technology

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Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC) which along with Arroyo Grande Community Hospital (AGCH) and French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), are Dignity Health's Central Coast hospitals, is pleased to introduce the technologically advanced General Electric Discovery MR750w 3T MRI to the Greater Santa Maria Valley Community.

This new versatile MRI machinery is comfortable for patients of all ages and virtually all sizes and includes leading functionality that provides the tools needed to make definitive diagnoses. 

Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is the process of taking detailed pictures inside of a body using an advanced computer, powerful magnetic field, and radio waves and is used to diagnose or monitor a number of health care conditions and treatments. The GE Discovery MR750w 3T MRI features and benefits provide patients with a more comfortable scan experience while generating extraordinary image quality for the physician:

  • Large 70cm wide-bore scan architecture offering patients more exam space  
  • Completely re-designed scan table surface for a more comfortable exam  
  • Shorter scan time including music and video system for patient experience
  • Anatomy specific imaging coils to maximize image resolution
  • Advanced computer software and technology to enhance image quality

“We're very excited to have a new GE 3T MRI here at Marian Regional Medical Center,” said Steve Sonnabend, MD, MRMC Imaging Director. “This is the only 3T MRI currently in use between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. It is a complement to our existing imaging services and it will allow us to image our patients with greater detail, greater diagnostic accuracy and will also help to guide our surgical specialists in some of their procedures, specifically neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery for joints and also our urologists with prostate surgery.”  

In addition to Marian Regional Medical Center’s new 3T MRI, Dignity Health Central Coast provides a wide breadth of advanced diagnostic imaging services at twelve inpatient and outpatient locations in Northern Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County. For more information on our technologically state-of the-art imaging services, please visit dignityhealth.org/centralcoast.     

About Marian Regional Medical Center

Marian Regional Medical Center, located in Santa Maria, California, is rated among the top 10% in the nation for cardiac care, and is a designated STEMI Receiving Center (ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction) in Santa Barbara County.  Santa Barbara County STEMI receiving programs earned the Silver Award from the American Heart Association for excellence in patient care. Marian has achieved prestigious designation as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission. In addition, Marian has received the Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Clinical Excellence Award. The medical center’s cancer program is distinguished as the only comprehensive Community Cancer Center on the Central Coast.  The need to meet the demand for quality, technologically-advanced care for a growing community led Marian to open its doors to a new state-of-the-art, 191-bed facility in the spring of 2012.  The new facility houses the largest and most comprehensive perinatology/neonatology program on the Central Coast providing the most compassionate, quality care to the littlest of patients. Marian is a Dignity Health member of the Central Coast, which also includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital in Arroyo Grande, CA and French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, CA, St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, CA and St. John’s Pleasant Valley in Camarillo, CA. Dignity Health of the Central Coast is an integrated network of top quality hospitals, physicians from the most prestigious medical schools, and comprehensive outpatient services including primary care offices, premier ambulatory surgery centers, technologically-advanced laboratories and imaging centers and a full service home health agency; all recognized for quality, safety and service.  Each hospital is supported by an active philanthropic Foundation to help meet the growing health care needs of our communities.

Publish date: 

Wednesday, November 09, 2016