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Committee OKs $272,000 repair for leased MRI after month-long outage
Summary
The committee approved a $272,000 repair of a leased MRI magnet at the north location; Canon agreed to let the hospital amortize the cost over 12 months. Members debated whether to carry service contracts or accept equipment risk; staff said the machine had been down about a month and repair was urgent.
The finance committee approved a $272,000 repair for a leased MRI after hospital staff said the system’s gradient/power source failed and the machine has been out of service for about a month.
Dr. Matt Brown told the board the cost will be repaid over 12 months per Canon’s arrangement and that the repair was not included in the current budget. Board members debated whether the hospital should forego service contracts and accept equipment risk (‘‘at risk’’ decisions) or instead pursue leases that include service. Staff described the prior decision to take equipment at risk because it was new and said the annual cost for full service contracts on that kind of machine would be in the $120,000–$130,000 range.
Members pressed for options such as negotiating an extended lease or lease buyout in lieu of paying to repair an older machine, but staff said the MRI installation originally cost roughly $450,000 and that replacing or re-siting the equipment would require significant construction and expense. The committee voted to approve the repair funding to return the machine to service.
