On April 1, Cook County leaders came together to announce the installation of a new MRI at Provident Hospital. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was joined by Cook County Commissioners Dennis Deer and Bill Lowry, and Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha. Cook County Health conducts 6,000 MRIs each year. The new MRI will provide Provident patients with the latest technology in medical imaging. It represents a $2 million investment, supported by grant funding. “Provident Hospital has a long and storied history serving this community, and we are thrilled to be highlighting one of the many investments we are making on the Provident campus,” said President Preckwinkle. “We have made improvements to the Provident Emergency Department and the inpatient area. Last summer we opened the new Provident Dialysis Center, and now we have a new MRI machine.” Using a magnetic field and radio waves, an MRI produces no radiation, making it one of the safest ways to scan the body.  MRIs are used to assess and diagnose a variety of medical concerns, from back or joint pain, to heart, lung, and brain conditions, to cancer. “This new machine means will be able to perform even more MRI scans at a higher quality resolution, in a setting that is more comfortable for our patients, and get results rapidly. This is what forward progress looks like,” said Rocha.