Meeting Physician and Patient Needs in Alabama

When a group of local doctors and Mizell Memorial Hospital in Opp, Alabama decided to team up to offer patients an open MRI program, Mizell's Chief Operating Officer Jan Grigsby turned to Alliance Imaging.  "We already had a successful relationship with Alliance for a mobile MRI service," he recalls, "so we had the trust in each other to go forward with this new venture."  Opp Imaging, as the new facility is named, opened in the fall of 2004, serving patients throughout its Covington County community with the same "hometown compassion" that is Mizell Memorial Hospital's hallmark.

As Grigsby explains, the need for an open MRI facility was driven by patient demand.  "Our family practice doctors were telling us that about one-third of their patients wanted open MRI," he says.  At the same time, it was important to get the equipment that offered the highest image resolution possible.  "Our doctors wanted to be sure that they were getting the best-quality image," Grigsby recounts.  "With Alliance Imaging, we were able to get the open MRI equipment that our physicians wanted.  So the doctors have the quality they demand and their patients are satisfied with the MRI experience."

For Grigsby, Alliance's flexibility is also another asset: "They work with us to make our imaging program work for us."  As a result, eventually there may be more modalities added to Opp Imaging.  "We know that Alliance is willing and able to adapt as our needs change," Grigsby says, "so with their support, we can determine how to best develop our imaging services over time, depending on the evolving needs of our physicians and our patients."