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While working as a new MRI technologist in La Palma Intercommunity Hospital Orange County, Cindy Shin had an inspiration. Why not bring this wonderful new technology to her Korean community then centered in central Los Angeles? It seemed an impossible dream for a newly certified technologist with little money to gather together the expertise, the money, and the effort that would be required for such an ambitious dream.

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For the medical expertise Cindy recruited her husband James D Elkjer M.D., who had a practice near the Los Angeles Korean community. For the organizational and operational expertise, Cindy recruited an experienced expert on organizing outpatient MRI facilities, Lon Gillette. For the money, she would leverage her savings of $28,000.

 

From the beginning of this adventure it would take the full-time effort and more of these three initial partners working without compensation to establish the first successful outpatient MRI service in Los Angeles Koreatown.

 

The service was originally called Shin MRI and consisted of a used MRI in a trailer outside a medical building with one employee in January, 2003. The partners upgraded their MRI twice since opening, a GE 1.5T in 2005, and a GE 3T in 2012, demonstrating their commitment to quality with major investments. Through Cindy's technical expertise, high quality imaging, and an affordable price, the business has grown over 20 years to a full multi-modality imaging centers with 85 employees, scanning over 200,000 MRI patients.

 

Shin Imaging has always focused on the compassionate personal side of diagnostic care as much as the technical side. The guiding principle for Cindy and her partners has been quality patient care without the interference of the corporate bottom line. Cindy decided that this same successful formula, the most advanced 3T MRI diagnostic imaging at an affordable price, can and should be applied to North Orange County. Partnering with a group of highly skilled and specialized radiologists, Shin Imaging Center opened an additional facility located in her hometown of Fullerton. Cindy believes that all cities in Orange County have a unique personality and individuality, but the highest quality at an affordable price will resonate with everyone that shares a commitment to quality care for patients, as the history of Shin Imaging Center in Los Angeles demonstrates.