October 12, 2005
Contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093

(Washington, DC) Funding for a new mobile magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit has been approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Defense, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) announced today. The unit will be based at the Boise VA Medical Center and will also serve Mountain Home Air Force Base.

"This is good news for veterans, good news for those stationed at Mountain Home, and good news for Idaho's taxpayers. This state of the art, mobile piece of medical equipment will enable more veterans, service members, and their families to be easily served at lower cost to the government," said Craig, who serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

The grant to purchase the new unit is approximately $2 million.

"Today's VA is providing some of the very best care in the nation, and this partnership between the VA and DOD will continue that new legacy. We want those on active duty and those who are now retired to receive the best care we can provide," Craig said

The Veterans' Committee chairman said that he threw his support behind the grant application after meeting with VA personnel from Boise. "It's clear there was a need," Craig said.

MRI technology enables physicians to look inside a human body by using magnetism and radio waves to produce clear pictures of the human anatomy. Unlike a computed tomography (CT) scans, an MRI does not use x-rays nor does it require the use of dyes.

MRI images give clear pictures and are useful for the diagnosis of infections involving bones and tumors which involve bones and joints. The images allow doctors to see very small tears and injuries to tendons, ligaments and muscles and even some fractures that cannot be seen on x-rays, and is often used after traumatic accidents.

Idaho was just one of two states that will be getting a mobile MRI unit. The other mobile MRI unit will serve veterans and active duty personnel in Wyoming and northern Colorado.

Other projects approved for funding as part of the DOD-VA Health Care Sharing Incentive Fund include a joint use physical therapy unit in New Jersey, a radiology center in Kentucky, a sleep lab in Missouri, a cardiac and neurosurgery effort in the state of Washington, an oncology program in Chicago, and a digital imaging system and hyperbaric chamber in Texas.