Siemens Healthineers Completes $43.6 Million PET Detector Plant Expansion in Tennessee

Siemens Healthineers said on Wednesday that it has completed a $43.6 million construction and renovation project at its PET Detector Center in Rockford, Tennessee, the only site in the world where it makes the detectors used in its positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanners.

The project added 40,000 square feet to the 97,000-square-foot campus and renovated an existing 7,500 square feet, the company said in its announcement. Siemens Healthineers expects the expansion to bring more than 90 new manufacturing, research and development, and management positions to the Rockford area over five years. More than 200 people currently work on the campus.

Capacity for imaging demand

The company said the added space will let it expand production of PET detectors to meet increasing customer demand, which it attributed to wider clinical use of radiopharmaceuticals in theranostic approaches to cancer care, in neurology applications such as Alzheimer's disease evaluation, and in cardiac imaging. The added output will also support the launch of new PET/CT product lines in the US and internationally, according to the company.

PET detectors capture the gamma rays emitted after a patient is injected with a radiopharmaceutical; the scanner turns those signals into images of metabolic activity.

"This building project significantly increases production capacity and customer access to our PET/CT scanners to meet the rapidly growing worldwide clinical demand for PET/CT imaging," said James Williams, head of Siemens Healthineers Molecular Imaging.

What was built

The work centered on the Dunavant Drive section of the campus. It includes 36,000 square feet of new dedicated manufacturing space, a renovation of a 7,500-square-foot section of the 26,000-square-foot PET detector manufacturing and engineering facility, and a 4,000-square-foot expansion of the 21,000-square-foot research and development building. The 50,000-square-foot crystal manufacturing facility on Stock Creek Boulevard was not part of the project, the company said.

Siemens Healthineers said it received a $930,000 FastTrack Economic Development Grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, which can be used to offset costs such as property acquisition, new construction and building retrofits. The company also said it worked with the Tennessee Valley Authority on the campus's energy efficiency, and that the project installed electric rather than gas-powered equipment, LED lighting and 12 electric vehicle charging stations.

State and local officials

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and the state's Department of Economic and Community Development announced the expansion on Wednesday, WVLT reported. "I am proud to take part in announcing nearly 100 new jobs that will create greater opportunity for families across East Tennessee," Lee said, according to the station.

Blount County Mayor Jared Anderson said the expansion "reflects both the success of their operation and the advantages of doing business in our community," WVLT reported. The station said the project was also supported by the Maryville Electric Department and the Blount County Industrial Development Board.