Waukesha, Wisc, September 26, 2006 - GE Healthcare reached a major milestone today by installing the company's 10,000th Signa magnetic resonance (MR) superconductive magnet, designed and built from the ground up at GE's MR facility in Florence, S.C. This impressive achievement pushes GE's total installed base to more than 13,000 MR systems in clinical settings around the world.

The 10,000th GE-manufactured magnet was installed at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System's Diagnostic Imaging Center in Lake Success, an $8.5 million, 15,700-square-foot outpatient radiology program based at the Health System's Center for Advanced Medicine, an ambulatory care complex.

"We are excited to collaborate once again with GE Healthcare," said Dr. Mitchell Goldman, Chairman of Radiology at North Shore-LIJ. "This new magnet allows us to continue to provide clinical excellence and service to our patients."


Since beginning production at the Florence, SC, facility in 1984, GE Healthcare has become the world's largest manufacturer of superconducting magnets for whole-body diagnostic imaging. The facility has adopted the principles of Total Quality Management, and it has tapped into the creativity and efficiency of its employee empowerment programs. Approximately one half of the world's superconducting magnets for MRIs are manufactured at the GE Healthcare facility.

"What stands out on the GE magnets is the excellence of body imaging for routine clinical work," said John Chiminski, vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare's global MR business. "There is tremendous excitement about these super conductive magnets, and it is now clear that this breakthrough technology is the future of high field clinical MRI. The quantum leap in scan speed and image detail will permit new advances in a wide range of applications."

About North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System

The nation's third largest, non-profit, secular healthcare system, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System cares for people of all ages throughout Long Island, Queens and Staten Island - a service area encompassing more than five million people. The health system includes 15 hospitals, four long-term care facilities, a medical research institute, four trauma centers, five home health agencies and dozens of out-patient centers. North Shore-LIJ facilities house more than 6,000 beds, and are staffed by over 8,000 physicians, 10,500 nurses and a total workforce of about 37,500 -- the largest employer on Long Island and the ninth largest in New York City.

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