Hitachi signs on SunHealth for MRI

Hitachi Medical Systems America has clinched a multi-unit magneticresonance imaging purchasing agreement with SunHealth, the third-largestU.S. hospital chain. The contract marks the first time HMSA hassigned up a large hospital group for MRI purchases, said SheldonSchaffer, director of marketing.

SunHealth of Charlotte, NC, is an alliance of 250 nonprofithospitals located in 15 states, mainly in the Southeast (SCAN12/12/90). The alliance obtains favorable pricing on productsand services by arranging group purchases with individual vendors.

The HMSA purchasing contract is good for one year, with anopportunity to renew. No specific number of MRI system purchasesis guaranteed, Schaffer said.

"We are looking forward to a good relationship with SunHealthand an opportunity to provide (MRI) products for their network.We market our system as cost-effective for hospitals. SunHealthrecognizes that," Schaffer said.

HMSA of Twinsburg, OH, has installed 43 of its MRP permanentmagnet MRI systems in the U.S. since introducing a 0.2-tesla unitin November 1989. The vendor brought a second, 0.3-tesla MRI systemto market last year. HMSA was created two years ago as a jointventure between Hitachi Medical of Japan and Summit World Tradeof Hudson, OH.