Advance Rural Imaging This Giving Tuesday

Help Us Bring a New MRI to Salmon—Our Most Ambitious Project Yet

Steele Memorial Medical Center is launching the largest fundraising effort in our history: a $2.5 million project to bring a state-of-the-art MRI system to Salmon. This upgrade is essential for protecting access to high-quality, advanced diagnostic imaging for the people of Lemhi and Custer Counties—one of the most remote regions in the lower 48 states.

This Giving Tuesday, we invite our community, friends, and supporters to help us take a major step forward. The Steele Memorial Foundation has set a $150,000 fundraising goal, a critical portion of the overall project cost, and your generosity today helps move this transformational project from vision to reality.

Why a New MRI Matters

Our current MRI has served us well, but it is aging, limited in capability, increasingly unreliable, and unable to keep up with modern imaging standards. In a rural area like ours, having access to advanced diagnostic tools isn’t a convenience—it’s a lifeline.

A modern MRI will bring faster scans, higher-resolution images, greater patient comfort, and shorter wait times. It allows our providers to detect injuries, cancers, strokes, and other urgent conditions with improved accuracy—leading to faster treatment, better outcomes, and more peace of mind for patients and their families.

Keeping Care Close to Home

For many in our community, traveling over 100 miles for imaging simply isn’t feasible. Winter road conditions, medical vulnerabilities, work constraints, and cost barriers often stand in the way. A new MRI means:

• Fewer delays in diagnosis

• Fewer rescheduled scans

• Fewer long-distance travel burdens

• More timely and accurate care right here at home

This project protects and strengthens access to healthcare for our entire region.

Your Giving Tuesday Gift Makes a Tangible Impact

While the project total is $2.5 million, the Steele Memorial Foundation’s goal of $150,000 represents a critical portion—one that can be achieved through community generosity and collective action.

Every gift brings us closer:

• $100 helps support installation and site preparation

• $250 supports advanced technology capabilities

• $500 helps equip the MRI suite with advanced components

• $1000 or more directly fuels the MRI acquisition itself

• Any amount moves us meaningfully toward our goal

A Legacy Project for Rural Idaho

This MRI upgrade is more than an equipment purchase. It is an investment in the future of healthcare in Salmon. It ensures that families, neighbors, and visitors can receive world-class diagnostic services without leaving the community they call home.

When someone experiences a sudden stroke concern…When a child is injured…When a parent receives a new cancer diagnosis…When clarity, speed, and accuracy matter most…This MRI will be the tool that guides treatment and saves lives.

Stand With Us This Giving Tuesday

Your support today ensures that advanced imaging remains accessible for generations to come. Together, we can meet this challenge. Together, we can ensure rural healthcare in Salmon continues to grow stronger, more resilient, and more advanced—right when it is needed most.

Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for believing in local care. And thank you for helping bring a new MRI home to Salmon.