Published: September 27, 2007 10:00 am      

Construction to begin on hospital’s imaging department

EDMOND — Construction for a new imaging department at Edmond Medical Center is set to begin next week.

A premier part of the project is a second CT scanner to be installed, said Tayo Fichtl, who is in his third week as CEO of Edmond Medical Center.

The $3.2 million project will upgrade the existing radiology department and will include a state-of-the-art 64-slice CT for advanced imaging. The equipment provides top-of-the-line imaging in today’s market. It has been considered the gold standard of cardiac imaging for diagnostic procedures.

“When I think about what people look for in a hospital, they look for great people and they look for great technology,” he said. “When those two things go together, you’re going to have great outcomes.”

He said the 64-slice CT has the potential to eliminate the need for invasive procedures such as heart cauterization and colonoscopy. The 64-slice CT goes beyond imaging anatomical structure by measuring metabolic output of a heart.

“We need to continue to look at that technology and continue to invest and grow,” he said.

EMC’s enthusiasm in providing optimum patient care appealed to him when interviewing for the CEO position. However, Fichtl learned the hospital’s growth was becoming stagnate after a period of rapid growth in recent years.

“We’d like to get back on that growth cycle again,” he said Tuesday in his office. Still, he wasn’t ready to speak about the hospital’s ongoing strategic planning for the next five years.

Services include emergency room care, cardiopulmonary care, intensive care, cardiac care, rehabilitation services, diagnostic imaging, pain management, hyperbarics and wound healing, medical/surgical care, geropsychiatric care, spine care, liver care, ENT clinic, an outpatient physical therapy and sports medicine program.

He leads the more than 500 employees of EMC.

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet Tayo twice,” said Helen Rangel, EMC nurse recruiter. “And he has a unique understanding of human resources and the type of folks we want to recruit into the facility.”



jcoburn@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 114