Northside Medical Associates has opened a new 8,000 square foot imaging suite at its Pell City campus, its newest effort to provide patients in the region with a medical home to serve diverse medical needs all in one location.

The new suite features a wide bore, open MRI, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the only one of its kind in St. Clair County. It has earned national accreditation by the American College of Radiology.

The suite expansion is part of an overall strategic plan for Northside to better serve its patients by providing them a medical home with services and specialties all under one roof.

No longer do patients have to travel to larger, metropolitan areas to obtain these kinds of services. They are located in the same facility as their doctor’s office.

According to Dr. Michael Dupre’, one of the partners in the practice, this cutting edge MRI is not only precise in its imaging capabilities, it is open, quiet and quick. Patients do not have to endure a lengthy process in cramped and noisy conditions of traditional MRIs.

Made by Toshiba, its unique technology puts the magnet in a vacuum container to prevent the transmission of sound. It enables the patient and technician to carry on a conversation because there is so little noise. That would not have been possible with the old technology.  “The imaging place is wider so you don’t even have to have your head inside to get the scan most of the time,” Dupre’ said.

Most studies take 15 minutes or less, and it has the capability to test 25 patients a day versus the 10 to 12 average with the older technology.

Because the testing can be done outside a hospital setting, the patient usually has much lower co-pays, similar to a doctor’s visit, he said.

Northside doctors saw a “huge need” for this phase of their practice, especially in sports medicine, geriatrics and for the veteran population. “We want to keep our patients here. We felt like it fit well with our vision.”

The addition to the existing complex was built by Goodgame Company of Pell City.

The next phase of Northside’s expansion plans include a multi-specialty building expected to begin construction this fall. Specialty doctors are already serving patients at

Northside, but this newest phase will enable specialty physicians to own part of the facility and be housed with other physicians Northside recruits.

It will include cardiology, ophthalmology, optometry, pulmonary, Ear, Nose and Throat, orthopedic surgery, dermatology, urology and gastroenterology specialists.

The newest expansion and future plans come on the heels of Northside’s opening medical clinics in outlying areas. New offices have opened in Moody and Vincent with full time staff. In addition, Moody offers after hours care in the evenings and on Saturdays.

For more, visit northsidemed.com.