The Palmerton Hospital inaugurated a new $250,000 X-ray machine Tuesday that brings the state-of-the-art in diagnostic equipment to the community hospital.

The new General Electric Adventx rivals the radiologic and fluoroscopic models found in hospitals many times the size of Palmerton.

Administrator Peter Kern said the upgrade is just one of a continuing series of modernization projects at the hospital. Over the past 18 months, over $1 million has been spent on equipment acquisitions and modernizations at the facility, he said.

The new unit replaces a 1068 model that had been used at the hospital.