Palatine woman donates for imaging center at Northwest Community Hospital

A Palatine woman whose family has a long connection to Northwest Community Hospital has pledged $100,000 for a proposed imaging center in the Arlington Heights hospital’s emergency room.

Martha Atherton relies on Northwest Community for medical care, and it has long been the Atherton family’s hospital of choice. It is where her late husband, Robert, waged his battle with heart disease.

“Over the years, our family has made many visits to that emergency room, and we receive excellent care each time,” Atherton said. “I wanted to be among the first to support the new imaging center, and I hope others join me. It’s a far-reaching project and a unique opportunity for local philanthropists to impact so many lives.”

The new imaging center will be steps from triage rooms, bringing advanced technologies closer to patients. Currently, many emergency room patients are transported to outpatient radiology for imaging, which requires moving sometimes seriously injured people.

The hospital plans to house all levels of imaging within the new center, including magnetic resonance imaging and the most advanced CT scanners, ultrasound and digital radiology.

The estimated cost of building out the space and providing a full range of advanced equipment is $8.5 million. The hospital hopes to start building late next year and finish in 2012.