Medical Outfitters is a medical imaging equipment supplier based in Miami, Florida. We install, rig and service MRI systems across Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. A separate legal entity, Medical Outfitters Puerto Rico LLC, operates in the territory. We perform our own de-installation, rigging, transport, site preparation, cryogenics and service rather than subcontracting the physical work, and we are ISO 13485:2016 certified.
Documented projects in the region include Puerto Rico, Antigua, Grand Cayman and the Dominican Republic. This page sets out who does the work, what makes an island installation different, and what to plan for.
Who Installs MRI Machines in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean?
Most companies selling imaging equipment into this region are brokers. They sell the system and subcontract the physical work to whoever is available locally. The people who arrive at your site have no relationship with the people who sold you the machine.
We do the physical work ourselves. An MRI installation carried out by our team means de-installation, rigging and installation, freight and logistics, cryogenics and helium, and ongoing service and repairs, carried out by our own engineers. For an island site that distinction decides whether a problem is solved in days or in months.
We also work as a turnkey partner on whole facilities, which our clinical facility development partnership covers. Our leadership and company background and our full project record are both public. The projects below are the ones in this region.
Projects We Have Delivered Across the Region
Antigua: emergency MRI cryogenic service during the COVID shutdown
COVID-19 had shut down international travel. Our team flew to Antigua in a Cessna 182T single-engine aircraft to deliver emergency MRI cryogenic services to St John’s Hospital. Scheduled flights had stopped and the magnet could not wait.
Grand Cayman: first G-Scan weight-bearing MRI in Georgetown
We delivered the first G-Scan weight-bearing system in Georgetown, Grand Cayman, for Esaote. The project was run by our Project and Construction Manager Phil Smith, a native of the Cayman Islands.
Dominican Republic: first Planmed Clarity 3D mammography system
We installed the first Planmed Clarity 3D mammography system in the Dominican Republic, at Siglo 21 in San Francisco de Macoris. A brand new system, shipped and commissioned on site.
Puerto Rico: MRI shipping, rigging and cryofill
We have shipped and rigged multiple MRI systems into Puerto Rico, including a GE 1.5T with shipping and cryofill and a Philips Achieva leaving our warehouse Puerto Rico bound. Basic MRI magnet rigging jobs are normally completed within three to five hours, depending on the weight. It is everything around the rigging that sets the schedule.
What Makes a Caribbean Installation Different
An island installation is not a mainland installation with a longer drive. Six things change, and each of them can stop a project.
Getting the system to the island
Ocean freight on routes with far less competition than a mainland move, plus inland haulage at both ends. For Puerto Rico specifically, the Jones Act requires US-flagged vessels, which carries a freight premium over an equivalent international leg.
Customs, duty and consumption tax
Puerto Rico sits inside the United States customs territory, so a system shipped from the mainland clears as a domestic movement and pays no customs duty, though IVU still applies. The wider Caribbean is different. Those are foreign customs territories, applying their own duty and consumption tax whatever the system shipped from. Country of origin and country of export are separate questions and customs asks both.
Power, voltage and frequency
Confirm supply voltage, frequency and available capacity before the system ships, not after it lands. Correcting a power mismatch on an island means importing the fix.
Crane access and the route into the building
The magnet has to physically reach the room. On constrained island sites the route in, the crane position and the door or wall opening are usually the binding constraint on an MRI installation, and they need surveying before anything is ordered. Siting also has to satisfy the ACR zoning guidance on MR safety, which applies wherever the magnet ends up.
Cryogens and helium
On an island a helium delivery is a shipping problem as well as a service call. We provide liquid helium sales and fills, cold-head replacement, magnet cool-downs, quench recovery and remote magnet monitoring. For the background on why that matters, our guide to what an MRI quench is explains what a magnet losing superconductivity actually costs.
Parts and service after the install
A part that reaches a mainland hospital overnight does not reach an island overnight. Platform choice matters more here than on the mainland. A widely installed system has a deeper parts pool and more engineers who know it.
What to Budget and How Long It Takes
System prices are the same wherever you are; what changes is everything around them. Our published ranges are in the MRI machine cost and price guide, and current stock is on our MRI inventory page. Freight, duty, destination tax, rigging, site work and engineer travel are quoted per project. They depend on the island and the building.
- Magnet rigging Usually three to five hours depending on weight
- MRI installation where a suitable room exists Typically weeks, not months
- Where the room needs building The building sets the timetable, not the scanner
- The recurring cost people miss Every later service visit is a flight, a hotel and travel days, for the life of the machine
If timing is the constraint, tell us the deadline first and we will work backwards from it. Tell us what you are trying to do. We will give you a landed figure built from those components rather than a mainland list price.
MRI Installation in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean: Common Questions
Who installs MRI machines in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean?
Medical Outfitters, a medical imaging equipment supplier based in Miami, Florida, installs and services MRI systems across Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. A separate legal entity, Medical Outfitters Puerto Rico LLC, operates in the territory. The company performs its own de-installation, rigging, transport, site preparation, cryogenics and service rather than subcontracting the physical work, and has delivered systems to Puerto Rico, Antigua, Grand Cayman and the Dominican Republic.
Do you send your own engineers to the islands?
Yes. The engineers who install and service the system are our own, not subcontractors. During the COVID-19 travel shutdown our team flew to Antigua in a Cessna 182T single-engine aircraft. Scheduled flights had stopped, so we delivered emergency MRI cryogenic services to St John’s Hospital ourselves.
Does shipping an MRI to Puerto Rico require import duty?
Puerto Rico sits inside the United States customs territory. A system shipped from the mainland clears as a domestic movement and pays no customs duty. It is not free of tax though: IVU applies, and the Jones Act requires US-flagged vessels, which raises freight. The wider Caribbean is different, because those are foreign customs territories that apply their own duty and consumption tax.
How long does an island MRI installation take?
The magnet rigging itself is usually a matter of hours. Basic jobs are normally completed within three to five hours, depending on the weight. The schedule is set by everything around it: shipping, customs clearance, crane access and whether the room is ready. Where a suitable room already exists, an island installation is typically measured in weeks rather than months.
Which islands do you serve?
Puerto Rico, where we hold a local legal entity, plus the wider Caribbean. Documented projects include Antigua, Grand Cayman and the Dominican Republic. If your island is not on that list it is worth asking, because the constraint is usually freight routing rather than distance.
Can you handle cryogens and helium on an island?
Yes, and it is the part most suppliers cannot cover. We provide liquid helium sales and fills, cold-head replacement, magnet cool-downs, quench recovery and remote magnet monitoring. On an island a helium delivery is a shipping problem as well as a service call. Cryogenic capability matters more here than on the mainland.
Do you deinstall and relocate MRI systems as well as install them?
Yes. We de-install, ramp down, package, rig, load and transport systems as well as installing them. That includes moving a system from the mainland to an island site. That includes inspection before disconnection, cabling, and loading into containers for shipment.
