Oprah Winfrey blesses new CT scanner she helped fund in Hawaii
Celebrity billionaire Oprah Winfrey recently blessed a newly installed CT scanner she helped fund at a hospital in Hawaii.
Maui Memorial Medical Center, a 214-bed acute care hospital in Wailuku, celebrated the new computed tomography machine with its imaging team on June 8. As part of the event, local resident Kahu Kimokeo “blessed” the new scanner and the technologists who will operate it, “honoring the skill, trust and compassion they bring to every patient interaction.”
Maui Health said June 12 that the new CT machine will provide faster, more detailed imaging to Hawaiians. With the installation, the hospital system hopes to help radiologists diagnose disease earlier and with more accuracy while “strengthening access to high quality care for patients across Maui County.”
“Mahalo nui loa [thank you very much] to Oprah and her team for their generosity and genuine care for the people of Maui,” the hospital said in an announcement. “We are deeply grateful for this investment in the health and well-being of our people and for the opportunity to mark this important milestone together.”
The new scanner is a Canon Aquilion One Prism Edition that offers AI assistance, deep learning image reconstruction for greater clarity at a lower dose, and a simple-to-use interface.
Previously from Chicago where she made her namesake TV show, Winfrey, also is a producer, actress, author and media mogul. She has a part-time residence in Maui, in addition to her main home in Montecito, California.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.