HOSPITAL OPEN HOUSE SET SUNDAY

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Southeast Missouri Hospital will unveil its new building addition and the hospital's recently completed MRImaging Center at an open house Sunday.

The open house is scheduled from 2-4 p.m. and will feature tours of both the new north addition to the Harrison Annex and the magnetic resonance imaging center. Also featured will be health screenings for adults and a special "Heart Healthy Kids" program for elementary-age children.

Included in the two-story, 6,200 square foot Harrison Annex addition are new and enlarged surgical and intensive care waiting rooms, a new chapel, and the hospital's Pastoral Care Department.

First floor space formerly housing the hospital's surgical waiting room has been converted to space for families who have relatives recuperating from open heart surgery. The old intensive care waiting area on the second floor is now being used as a waiting room for Southeast's Medical and Surgical Progressive Care Units.

The chapel is on the first floor of the addition and is designed for use by all faith groups, said Ray Otto, director of Pastoral Care.

"We've planned the chapel to provide a denominationally specific worship atmosphere," he said. The stained glass windows and many other chapel appointments have been donated by friends of the hospital.

The MRImaging Center, located in recently-constructed facilities on the ground floor of the hospital's Regional Cancer Center, includes a scanning room, a viewing room for physicians, computer room, control room, darkroom, work area, dressing rooms, bathroom facilities, waiting areas for inpatients and outpatients and a reception area.

The MRImaging Center's new Picker HPQ Vista MRI unit has a magnetic strength double that of the mobile unit previously utilized by the hospital, said Assistant Administrator Richard Meyer.

The higher field strength, Meyer pointed out, means that MRI scans can be completed faster while still achieving superior image quality.

Open house visitors may also view displays on magnetic resonance imaging and learn how this diagnostic tool works to produce two or three-dimensional images of body tissue.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle will be the focus of other activities planned in conjunction with the open house.

"February is American Heart Month, and there could be no more appropriate time to emphasize the importance that a healthy lifestyle plays in the prevention of heart disease," said Administrator Jim Wente.

"When Southeast Missouri Hospital initiated its open heart surgery program in the fall of 1984, it was done with the commitment of building a heart program to serve the needs of the region. An important component of our program is public education."

Children will have the opportunity to take part in a special educational program at 3 p.m. on the second floor of the Regional Cancer Center.

Linda Heitman, RN, MSN, will teach elementary-age children about the heart and the best way to keep it healthy.

"The program, `Heart Healthy Kids,' introduces children to risk factors and encourages healthy lifestyle patterns that help to promote cardiovascular health," Heitman explained. "We hope that we can promote a healthier tomorrow for children and remind then that they can make a difference for their future."

All entries in the Regional Heart Center's heart healthy poster contest will be on display at the open house. Prize winners will be announced just prior to the `Heart Healthy Kids' program.

Adults are invited to take advantage of free health screenings including blood pressure checks and pulmonary function testing. Regular $5 cholesterol screenings will be offered from 2-4 p.m. for $3. The screenings will be held near the MRImaging Center on the ground floor of the Regional Cancer Center.

Refreshments will be served in the new Surgery Waiting Room and registration for door prizes will be at the entrance to the open house.