Cassling Names CHI St. Alexius Health Dickinson - North Dakota as Winner of 2026 Imaging for Impact Award

(Omaha, NE – August 25, 2026) – Cassling is pleased to present this year’s Imaging for Impact Award to CHI St. Alexius Health Dickinson – North Dakota for their remarkable efforts to advance patient-centered care through imaging innovation.

Recognized and honored at Cassling’s Investing in You Educational Summit, CHI St. Alexius Health Dickinson earned this distinction for their Imaging Without Distance initiative, which expands advanced diagnostic imaging to rural North Dakota and has demonstrated measurable improvements in patient access, workflow efficiency and care coordination.

Led by Radiology Director Tammy Klaman, CHI Dickinson’s radiology department serves a wide geographic region where patients often travel long distances to receive care. To reduce that burden, Klaman and her team organized a comprehensive cross-training system program that equips technologists to work across multiple modalities including CT, MRI, X-ray, ultrasound, mammography, nuclear medicine and bone density scanning.

With 15 of their 17 technologists trained in these modalities, the entire team can pivot seamlessly during high-volume periods, urgent cases and staffing shortages to ensure consistent imaging access for emergency and inpatient/outpatient care.

Through this initiative, CHI Dickinson has achieved significant operational and clinical improvements. The department has provided:

• 24/7 access to CT, X-ray and ultrasound
• 16-minute average door-to-CT time for stroke patients
• 30-minute ED STAT turnaround time
• Improved outpatient experience scores from 50% to nearly 90%

With more than 15 years of experience in the CHI Dickinson imaging community, Klaman’s leadership has been central to the program’s success. With a background in quality control, she introduced structured corrective action processes, root-cause analysis and cross-department collaboration between radiology, nursing, pharmacy and ancillary teams.

Her team also developed a structured technologist training program with orientation sheets, exams, mentor sign‑offs and a two‑year pathway to board registration. This ensures new technologists gain proficiency safely and confidently before scanning independently.

“CHI St. Alexius Health Dickinson exemplifies what the Imaging for Impact Award is all about,” said Cassling President Brian Bradfield. “Their team has shown that innovation doesn’t require a large system, but dedication and a deep commitment to the patients you serve. Their work is improving lives across rural North Dakota and setting a powerful example for critical access hospitals nationwide.”

Cassling would also like to recognize finalist Shenandoah Medical Center (Iowa) whose critical access radiology department offered a low-dose CT lung cancer screening event at no cost to patients. In partnership with their oncology department, they provided radon kits, smoking cessation materials and information on lung cancer and radon to attendees.

Cassling’s Imaging for Impact Award was created to highlight imaging teams across the country that are advancing patient outcomes, keeping care local and serving as examples of best-practice innovation.

We’d like to thank all the organizations that applied for this year’s award and shared their powerful stories of imaging excellence. If you’d like to apply or nominate a team for the 2027 Imaging for Impact Award, please stay tuned at https://www.cassling.com/imaging-for-impact-thank-you for details on next year’s application window.