VIDALIA, La. &045; With equipment being moved in now, the Riverpark Medical Center should be completely functional by its grand opening on Nov. 3.

The upstairs doctors offices and the imaging center with the MRI and CT scan downstairs, as well as surgeries, should be open for business by then, said Dr. John White. Much of the building itself, however, should be finished in September.

&uot;I think the impact is going to be tremendous,&uot; White said, already having received &uot;so many positive comments from patients and in the community.&uot;

The only thing White said might not be fully in place by November is some last minute equipment installations.

The first phase of getting the imaging in place for the cutting edge center should begin today with the installation of the MRI magnet, White said.

The equipment installations will mostly be reserved for October, White said, along with making sure all the systems are working properly.

Everything in the center will be digital and before long, completely devoid of paper records, White said.

He said all tests would be digitized so doctors can pull up all medical records and images in their offices. Also, if a patient does have to go to another city for treatment, the images can either be transmitted by a secure connection through e-mail or put on a CD for patients to take with them.

&uot;We are almost a prototype for medicine in the future,&uot; White said. &uot;As we have planned this, we have realized we are more and more on the cutting edge.&uot;

White hopes the new facility will keep some Miss-Lou residents from having to travel to larger cities for medical treatment.

&uot;No question we lose a lot of patients to cities like Jackson, Baton Rouge and Alexandria,&uot; White said.

But with the facilities’ ability to do any procedure that does not require an overnight or extended stay, the center can keep some residents in the area for surgeries.

Within months, Miss-Lou residents can see doctors or have outpatient surgeries in their own backyard, overlooking the Mississippi River.