Ennis' new hospital raising money for radiology equipment

By The Montana Standard News Services - 11/02/2008

ENNIS — The Madison Valley Hospital Foundation and Madison Valley Properties, developers of Sun West Ranch, recently joined forces to kick off their effort to raise $2.2 million toward purchasing state-of-the-art radiology and imaging equipment for the new Madison Valley Hospital and Clinic in Ennis.

The clinic is under construction, an effort funded in part by the more than $1.6 million raised through Sun West Ranch's Project Giveback and additional community support, a news release said.

The facility is slated for completion this winter. The hospital serves the 1,000 year-round Madison Valley residents, plus travelers and part-time residents.

The equipment will replace outdated technology that doesn't meet the level of medicine that the new hospital will establish. The current X-ray equipment, for example, produces sub-standard images and is unable to accommodate patients who are not ambulatory.

The new equipment list includes a portable X-ray machine, a digital x-ray machine, ultrasound equipment and a CT scanner.

Ted and Heidi Gildreds, developers of Sun West Ranch, have been involved with the hospital since they started Project Giveback, a program that included $1.1 million in donations from the couple.

The hospital construction project alone is estimated to cost approximately $10 million.