Fonar launches leasing program to subsidiary

In an effort to enhance its profitability, MRI vendor Fonar has begun a program of selling its MRI scanners to its wholly owned physician and medical imaging management subsidiary, Health Management Corporation of America (HMCA). HMCA operates 25 medical imaging centers and 12 primary-care and multispecialty offices in New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Melville, NY-based Fonar will provide financing for HMCA under a lease arrangement and expects the strategy of upgrading select HMCA-managed facilities to improve the subsidiary’s operating profits and productivity.

Fonar announced last week that its first placement will be one of its open systems, 0.6-tesla magnet Quad 12000, to HMCA’s Garden City, NY, medical imaging center. HMCA’s executive director of diagnostic operations, Xavier Rodrigo, attributed the decision to install the unit at this particular center to the facility’s already increased revenues and scan volume. The system will be installed next quarter.