For the News-Tribune

ROMNEY — Hampshire Memorial Hospital’s application to offer mobile Magnetic Resonance Imaging services in Romney was approved April 1 by the West Virginia Health Care Authority. HMH will begin using the diagnostic tool April 8.
“It is exciting to be able to bring a new service to Hampshire County,” says Tonya Smith, Valley Health vice president of corporate ancillary services. “When we formed our relationship 16 months ago, a primary objective was to identify ways to bring needed services here. Mobile MRI is a perfect example of making that goal a reality and making healthcare more convenient for area residents.”
Smith praised the efforts of Robbie McCauley, President of Hampshire Memorial Hospital, Christie Lowman, Vice President and CFO for Hampshire Memorial and War Memorial hospitals, and Colleen Holmes, HMH radiology supervisor, for the success of the application. “Their tenacity and attention to detail showed all of us how passionate they were to get this unit approved for the community.”
The mobile unit is operated by U.S. Mobile Imaging, which also provides mobile MRI services to Morgan County War Memorial Hospital in Berkeley Springs. The unit will be in Romney every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The mobile unit will dock outside the medical floor of Hampshire Memorial. It will be used for a broad array of imaging procedures, with the leading applications expected to be musculoskeletal exams (all regions of the spine and bone joints), along with neuro-imaging of the brain.
“The mobile MRI provides our physicians with an excellent diagnostic tool and will allow Hampshire Memorial Hospital to expand its patient services,” says McCauley.
Valley Health is a non-profit regional healthcare system serving a population of 450,000 in northwest Virginia and eastern West Virginia. Valley Health includes five hospitals: Winchester Medical Center, a 411-bed regional referral center, Warren Memorial Hospital in Front Royal, VA, Shenandoah Memorial Hospital in Woodstock, VA, Page Memorial Hospital in Luray, VA, and Hampshire Memorial Hospital in Romney, WV. Valley Health also manages War Memorial Hospital in Berkeley Springs, WV, and operates Urgent Care and Quick Care centers, a regional medical transport service, durable medical equipment stores, and a retail pharmacy.