'Win an MRI' Winning Hospital Receives MRI Official Ribbon-C

'Win an MRI' Winning Hospital Receives MRI Official Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at Lockport Memorial Hospital After much anticipation and an outpouring of community support for last year's "Win an MRI" contest, an excited crowd of friends, employees and patients of Lockport Memorial Hospital in Lockport, N.Y., gathered in the lobby to hear the words they've been waiting for: "It's here!" At an official ribbon-cutting ceremony, they announced the brand new MAGNETOM(R) ESSENZA 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system from Siemens is now available to patients and the community.

The hospital won the MRI, worth approximately $800,000, through a first-of-its-kind online video competition. The "Win an MRI" contest was sponsored by Siemens to drive awareness for the lack of critical diagnostic tools in rural and community hospitals. They invited healthcare facilities to submit online videos and showcase why they deserved a free MRI system. After 1.4 million public votes were cast, Lockport Memorial Hospital was declared the winner with their video entitled "Is it here yet?"

MRI is one of the fastest growing imaging procedures on the market today, with the number growing by 10 percent from 2003 to 2006. However, more than 1,500 hospitals in the U.S. do not offer this valuable service.