North Shore University Hospital's MRI suite upgrade completed

North Shore University Hospital has completed a $21 million renovation and expansion of its MRI suite.

The 6,700-square-foot magnetic resonance imaging unit includes three scanners and will allow the hospital to reduce patient turnaround time, deliver faster diagnoses and provide new treatments, Northwell Health said Tuesday. The unit is located on the first floor of the Manhasset teaching hospital’s Cohen Pavilion.

Dr. David Hirschwerk, the 756-bed hospital’s medical director, said in a statement that the overhauled suite “will allow our team to serve more patients and do more for the patients we see.”

The space includes new radiologist reading rooms, patient bays, an outpatient reception and waiting room, staff lounge and locker room. It will serve outpatients as well as those staying in the hospital or being treated in the emergency department.

The new scanners can fit patients with larger body mass and allow neurosurgeons to provide high-intensity focused ultrasound for a condition known as essential tremors, Northwell said. The hospital now has four MRI scanners, two of which have unusually powerful magnets that can detect smaller abnormalities, the New Hyde Park-based health care system said.

The new scanners are “a critical technology for diagnosing a wide range of diseases,” Dr. Jesse Chusid, senior vice president of imaging services at Northwell Health and chair of radiology at the hospital, said in a statement.

The new suite, he said, “was carefully designed to accommodate complex MRI cases such as those involving sedation … [and] allow for the safe imaging of patients with implanted cardiac devices.”

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott is a reporter on the investigations desk. Since starting at Newsday in 2012, she has also covered real estate and the business of health care.