Kimball Health Services (KHS) is proud to announce their new addition, a 16 slice Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) Scanner.

According to Linda Cramer, Special Project Coordinator, the lease of the mobile scanner has been in the works since September 2010. Those plans were finalized the following December.

Cramer explains the new 16 slice scanner is a faster unit able to produce better detail with more information in a quicker amount of time compared to the old scanner.

A CAT scan is a computerized x-ray procedure that produces cross-sectional images of the body.

The images are far more detailed than x-ray films and can reveal disease or abnormalities in tissue and bone. The procedure is usually non-invasive and brief.

The new scanner also has the capability to print a report of radiation exposure to the patient after each exam.

“The radiation dosage is a very important piece of information because it reduces the risk of overexposure,” Cramer says.

Included with the scanner is more advanced software that will allow for additional and more complete scans as well as reduce the number of transfers for CAT scans to Scottsbluff.

“This opens the door to a lot of options and opportunities as we continue to grow,” Cramer says.

More exciting news from KHS is the addition of an audiometer and a mini-booth. This equipment will allow KHS to do more thorough hearing tests for physicals often needed for industrial workers, such as employees of Clean Harbors, Castronics, Curleys, and the city, county and state road crews.

The new booth and audiometer are OSHA compliant and there is a meter to detect and register ambient noise.

Although the state regulations differ from OSHA standards, this equipment may negate the need for area workers to travel to other towns for employment physicals.

Cramer is currently researching state standards for the audiology component of physicals, and hopes to have those results before the equipment’s scheduled arrival on April 19.

KHS is expecting a mobile provider for ultrasounds in April as well. This service will be offered weekly, currently slated for Monday afternoons.

The service contract is being reviewed by attorneys for KHS as well as Ultra Imaging of Castle Rock Colo., the company providing the service.

The mobile unit will provide general ultrasound with some vascular and Doppler images as well, and is expected to be available to Kimball by late April.

The last, and perhaps the most exciting, April arrival will be a new Computerized Radiography (CR) Reader.

This new CR reader will replace the current one, which has been in place since 2004, and is quickly becoming outdated, according to Cramer.

X-Ray images will be converted to digital images and then transferred electronically to be read, Cramer says, speeding up the process for patients.

Cramer applied for a Union Pacific Railroad Foundation grant, and got it. The UPRR Foundation is giving KHS a $10,000 grant for the new $30,000 reader, with the Kimball Hospital Foundation giving the other $20,000.

“To get something from the first grant is kind of exciting,” Cramer says of the process. This was the first grant application she has written, “We’ve been very fortunate to be able to get this.”

Cramer is quick to point out that the new CEO of Kimball Health Services, Ken Hunter, is behind each of these projects. As the community grows and needs expand, Kimball Health Services strives to maintain quality service and quick, accurate care.