CMH, local doctors buy Astoria’s Siker Medical Imaging

Published 5:00 pm Sunday, October 31, 2010

In a new spirit of cooperation, former competitors Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria and Siker Medical Imaging and Intervention are joining to streamline local radiology services.

“We’re such a small market that working together is a better plan,” said Erik Thorsen, Columbia Memorial Hospital CEO.

On Nov. 8, Astoria Imaging, Inc. will purchase Siker’s Medical’s equipment, and assume its eight-year lease at the Park Medical Building in Astoria.

Astoria Imaging is a partnership between CMH and radiologists Dr. Bill Armington and Dr. Hugh Sabahi. Astoria Imaging owns and operates a $1.8 million MRI machine and other radiology equipment at CMH.

Siker Medical, meanwhile, owns and operates a $2.3 million MRI machine and offers CT, ultrasound, X-Ray, echocardiogram and stress tests, advanced breast imaging, MRA (magnetic resonance angiograph,) and stroke and aneurism screening, among other services.

Both entities brought MRI machines to Astoria in 2008. Since then, Siker Medical and Astoria Imaging have been receiving about 50 percent of local MRI business respectively.

“Now we can leverage the best care for the people of the community,” said Armington, of Astoria

Dr. David Siker, who also owns a radiology facility in Portland, agreed with Armington’s assessment.

“I thought it was economically a better decision for the community,” he said.

By bringing in the remaining 50 percent of the MRI services market CMH will “be able to put some funds toward money-losing areas,” said Armington.

Those areas include the hospital’s busy emergency room which “is one of the biggest financial drains,” said Thorsen. “As a non-profit we take care of everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.” Many emergency room patients are uninsured and poor, he added.

The deal emerged following conversations between CMH and Siker concerning the hospital’s new oncology and cardiology departments, both of which are located in the Park Medical Building.

“There were conversations about how to not draw patients away from Dr. Siker,” said Thorsen. “These conversations just naturally evolved over several months to taking over the MRI and CT. Dr. Siker seemed more interested in expanding in Portland, and we were more interested in expanding in Astoria.”

Siker said his Portland facility will continue to operate in a business-as-usual manner.

“In Portland nothing’s going to change,” he said, noting he will also spend more time in his new role as director of Stroke Intervention at Legacy Emanuel Hospital, also located in Portland.

Meanwhile, Siker will continue to interpret radiology scans as needed.

“Historically, all of the radiology reading I’ve done from Portland anyway,” he said.

Armington will take on some of Siker’s local work such as administering an average of 12 pain injections to local patients each week, said Siker.

“Bill and I have a good relationship, and we’re going to work together to make sure Astoria has excellent radiology services,” Siker said.

Thorsen said the future of both MRI machines is uncertain.

“We have not decided we’re going to keep both these (MRI machines),” said Thorsen. “We need to rightsize the equipment to the community.”

“We’ll operate with both and decide, as we move forward, which one will be most useful for the needs of the community,” said Armington. “At that point, we’ll decide which one we want to keep and move it into the hospital.”

Astoria Imaging might choose to sell one of the MRI machines and replace it with a PET CT (positron emission tomography and computerized tomography), to be used in the new oncology department, said Thorsen. PET CT scanners allow physicians to identify the location of cancer in a patient’s body.

Astoria Imaging plans to retain Siker Medical’s three full-time staff people, said Thorsen.

“If they decide to stay, they’ll go through the (CMH) hiring process. Our goal is to keep all three employed.”

CMH also plans to create one call center so patients can schedule appointments for any imaging service on the CMH campus or at the Park Medical Building, said Thorsen. He added that rates for radiology services will not increase.

As for Dr. Sonny Park, who owns the Park Medical Building, Armington believes the continued expansion of CMH is “benefitting Dr. Park. We’re working in the same direction and shooting for the same goals.”

The deal with Siker Medical may well reap other benefits for the community, said Armington.

“Now that there’s not such overt competition in imaging, it makes the area more attractive for specialists that we need to have in this area.”

It could also draw more businesses and local job opportunities, said Paul Mitchell, CMH marketing manager.

“If I were the owner of a large business looking at Astoria, I would say, ‘You have all these top-notch medical services in an area that’s picturesque.'”

Having such medical services is “also likely to attract retirees,” said Armington. “I can’t think of a better place to retire.”

When asked the sale price of the Siker Medical deal, Armington said it was confidential.

“But it was an amount that made the deal happen,” he added.