

Worth a
Thousand
Words
By Stacie Jones
Every picture
tells a story. In
the world of medical imaging, the
stories are of playground mishaps
and sports injuries; of cancer
diagnoses and treatments; or of
growing unborn life and cured
illnesses. The pictures tell stories
of the human body, and they
I M A G I N G S E R V I C E S A R E
I N T E G R A L T O PAT I E N T C A R E
unlock the information physicians
need to make the body better,
stronger and healthier.
From fracture exams or mam-
mograms to cardiology studies or
three-dimensional brain scans,
Kootenai Health provides compre-
hensive imaging services and a full
team of radiologists and technicians
to diagnose and treat patients.
“In the past, patients might
have had to travel outside the area
to get the latest and greatest im-
aging services and expertise, but
today there are very few imaging
procedures that can’t be done here
locally,” said Mike Blee, execu-
tive director of cardiopulmonary
and imaging services at Kootenai
Health.
Mike said his team works con-
tinually to keep Kootenai’s imaging
services updated with the latest
technologies and capabilities.
“We assess our services annually
to ensure we provide patients the
best imaging quality possible,” he
said.
This fall, Kootenai will begin
offering patient exams on a brand-
new 3-T MRI in Post Falls, one
of three locations for outpatient
imaging. The powerful 3-T scan-
ner represents the highest level of
imaging technology available, and
it is often the choice of universi-
ties and academic medical centers
because it provides the highest-
Joe Cutler, MRI imaging
assistant, prepares a
patient for an MRI.
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IMAGING