What is your plan for when that piece of equipment breaks? Do you have a backup plan? HIPAA security rules require that you have in place a plan for IT disasters, but what about when that costly piece of diagnostic or procedural equipment fails.
It is best to have in place for your employees the names of technicians, service contracts and maintenance contacts for easy access. Creating relationships in a crisis situation is not the best time to act. Vendors like to take care of customers who have developed relationships. Many are willing to say anything just to get the chance to take care of you.
Service contracts are costly but they do assure access to service in the time of crisis. If you are going the route on your own, you may want to look into a sourcing service like partsource.com. They can look for a new OEM part for you and save you the frustration of calling every part dealer in the country.