Prisma Health, Pediatric MRI

McMillan Pazdan Smith recently designed a new MRI suite with three scan rooms for Prisma Health. One of the scan rooms, certain holding rooms, and a waiting area are designated for patients from the Children’s Hospital. These areas were designed to include additional space to accommodate parents and caregivers who accompany a pediatric patient. The pediatric spaces feature graphics that tell a whimsical and calming story of the Children’s Hospital mascot’s hunt for hidden treasure. That treasure is found once the patient arrives in the scan room. The story is just one way the Child Life team uses the space to address the emotional needs of their patients.

Also pictured is Vivi, one of the facility dogs in The Canine F.E.T.C.H. (Friends Encouraging Therapeutic Coping and Healing) Unit, the hospital’s animal-assisted therapy program. Vivi the Goldendoodle works in the radiology department with MRI patients and the pediatric sedation team. Vivi and her handler, a Child Life Specialist, work side-by-side with children and their families to help educate them on what to expect during the course of their time in the hospital, provide positive distractions during painful procedures such as IV starts and blood draws, and serve as a comforting companion to children as they go through difficult procedures and testing.

The three new MRI scan and control rooms are housed in a new addition that was built above the existing hospital kitchen while the MRI support spaces are within a completely renovated portion of the existing radiology department. With the move, the project also replaced existing equipment with new 1.5T and 3.0T MR Systems. The project was completed in 2019.