QUINCY — The new Quincy Valley Medical Center will have some new equipment, including a new CT scanner. Hospital commissioners approved a lease proposal during their regular meeting Monday.

The lease with General Electric for a GoldSeal Revolution EVO EX scanner is for seven years and will cost the district about $871,300. The new scanner will be delivered in time to be installed in the new hospital, scheduled for completion in early 2025. 

Tom Richardson, QVMC director of information systems, said hospital officials want to sign the lease now because the equipment will determine the design of the room.

“Signing (the lease) tonight will start the process of getting the project manager involved so they can design the room appropriately,” Richardson said.

Commissioner Anthony Gonzalez said the lease provides some insurance for the hospital. 

“We’re essentially putting ourselves in line for this install. We’re reserving a spot to buy this in 2025,” Gonzalez said. “We’re locking in the price, and we’re locking in our space in line.” 

Chief Executive Officer Glenda Bishop said the payments won’t begin until the scanner is installed. 

Bishop said the lease on the current CT scanner runs through 2027, and even if the hospital replaces it, that lease will need to be paid off. Even with that expense, the new lease is expected to save money over its seven-year term, Bishop said.

The new scanner will be an upgrade, Richardson said, able to factor out obstacles like the metal in a knee that’s been replaced. Bishop said it provides additional options in the case of suspected stroke patients. 

The contract includes repair and maintenance services, which Bishop said were crucial. 

“This includes not just the equipment, but an expensive component of this relationship is the service agreement, which is so significant that it actually is a separate agreement within the total proposal,” Bishop said. 

The service agreement is a big part of the expense, but important, Bishop said. She cited an incident a couple of weeks ago, where the hospital’s CT scanner was not working at a time when an auto accident injured four people. All four patients eventually were sent to other hospitals because QVMC couldn’t provide the needed CT scan services.

The scanner is relatively new, in use about 18 months, Bishop said, and the lease company responded promptly and fixed it. But that period when it was not working put stress on patients and cost QVMC revenue, she said. 

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at [email protected].

    Quincy Valley Medical Center commissioners approved the lease of a new CT scanner for the new QVMC, currently under construction behind the existing hospital, pictured.