In his latest history column, Tom Adamich looks at the progress of medical imaging and its impact on Mercy Memorial Hospital.

Having briefly examined Monroes hospital history from the early 1920s to today, I found one aspect of its history particularly interesting medical imagings evolution in Monroe and the people behind it.

I must admit that the topic was also part of my own personal working evolution. One of my first jobs as a young college student was as an X-ray assistant and transporter at Suncoast Hospital an osteopathic hospital owned by Canadians in Largo, Fla. where I spend my late adolescent and teen years.

The hospital served Canadian snow birds who were covered by Canadas national health insurance.

Our resident Monroe-area hospital historian, Carl Anderson of Dundee, once again provided me with a wealth of Monroe medical imaging history.

He spent a successful 40-year career serving Monroe and surrounding areas medical imaging needs performing X-ray, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, CAT SCAN, mammography, and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) techniques and services using the latest technologies available.

Almost all of these medical imaging service techniques (except for basic X-ray technique and technology) were introduced during Andersons career, so he had the responsibility and pleasure of planning, developing and introducing them in Monroe.

Anderson was hired as a radiographer to serve at Mercy-Memorials Mercy Unit in June, 1976. His hiring coincided with the decision to consolidate most Mercy-Memorial medical imaging services to take place on one hospital campus.

Plans to build a new Mercy-Memorial Hospital Radiology Department on the Mercy Unit property began at this time, with Jerry Jorgensen, Administrative Director of Radiology, leading the efforts. Anderson was quickly promoted to chief radiographer in December, 1976, and helped in the medical imaging space and workflow design process.

According to a January/February 1982 edition of the Mercy-Memorial News, relocation of the Mercy-Memorial Radiology Department to the newly-constructed location at the Mercy Units Macomb Street campus was to begin in March, 1982, and completed by December of that year.

As was mentioned earlier, many new medical imaging technologies were introduced during Andersons Mercy-Memorial years. Nuclear medicine (the ability to image internal organs) was introduced in 1980.

CAT SCAN (also known as Computerized Axial Tomography having a 360 view of body parts using radiation) debuted at Mercy-Memorial in 1984.

MRI (also known as Magnetic Resonance Imaging another 360 view technique that doesnt use radiation) became available in Monroe in 1990 with significant upgrades made during the early 2000s.

Anderson also led a plan to digitize X-rays known as PACS Picture Archive and Communication System.

Prior to PACS, X-rays used silver halide film which turns dark when exposed to radiation. The exposed X-ray film had to be manually passed from a cassette holder to a darkroom passbox and replaced with unexposed film to be used for the next X-ray.

The PACS process uses a computer program to gather a digital image from a reusable imaging plate instead of the cassette containing film.

Mercy-Memorials medical imaging program and radiology services had a strong foundation provided by long-time radiographer Betty Perrini.

According to Anderson, Perrini was hired at Mercy Hospital in 1941 as a teenager. She was self-trained with guidance from Mercy Hospital Radiologists Dr. McGeogh and Dr. Mitchell and ran the Mercy Hospital Radiology Department during those early years, including transporting patients and processing films tasks I knew very well myself as an X-ray assistant.

She later transitioned to an office management role. Perrinis many contributions and historical perspective were key to numerous successful transitions and advances made by the Mercy-Memorial Radiology Department.

Perrini retired in 1987 and passed away in 2003 at the age of 81. Both Perrinis legacy and Andersons continue at ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital.

Tom Adamich is professor of technical services and reference librarian at Monroe County Community College. He writes a continuing series examining the history of Monroe County. He can be reached at tadamich@monroeccc.edu.

See the original post here:

Tom Adamich: The evolution of medicine in Monroe - Monroe Evening News