Academic Medical Center Receives New MRI Suite

January 29, 2014 1750 Views Constructware, Eastern U.S., Eric Mayne, Roy Gunsolus, Tradition Medical Center, University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — A new advanced MRI Suite is now complete at the 603-bed Stony Brook University Hospital. The $6.3 million project included the installation of a Siemens Magnetom Skyra 3T MRI scanner and a Siemens Magnetom Aera Dot MRI scanner; construction of two 400-square-foor MRI rooms; a centrally located, 200-square-foot control room; a 360-square-foot contract prep waiting area with three bed bays; and a 150-square-foot UPS room.

The project was designed by AECOM, headquartered in Los Angeles, and The LiRo Group, headquartered in Syosset, N.Y., served as construction manager. Islandia, N.Y.-based Stalco Construction served as the general contractor on the project. Construction took place while the hospital remained in full operation, which required detailed coordination.

“Delivering the massive MRI scanners into the building was a logistical and technical challenge,” said Amber Gillen, project manager with Stalco, in a statement. “The crews opened up a 10-foot-high by 10-foot-wide section of the outside curtain wall in the vicinity of the new MRI suite. A crane lifted the scanners up to the opening, allowing the team to place the machines directly on the fourth floor.”

Support infrastructure for the new scanners include two 3-ton Krauss chillers and two 1.5-ton air conditioning units placed on the rooftop. The large size of the scanners created structural challenges as well.

“The project called for structural reinforcements that were required due to the weight of the MRI scanners,” said George Protheroe, Stalco’s senior project manager, in a statement. “Stalco installed new steel floor beams connected to the building’s structural frame beneath floors of the new MRI rooms. This necessitated relocating utilities suspended underneath ceilings in the laboratory spaces on the third floor, where the new beams were installed.”

The hospital’s new MRI rooms feature complete magnetic shielding in all walls, doors, floors and ceilings. Additionally, all systems and fixtures in the MRI rooms were constructed with non-magnetic materials.