Whakatane Hospital Ct Scanner is Major Advance

16 February 2007

Whakatane Hospital Ct Scanner is Major Advance in Service

RADIOLOGY specialists at Whakatane Hospital have started using their new $835,000 CT scanner and Ultrasound Suite, and they are impressed by the improvements.

The blessing of the site and completed building progressed in three stages, ending in a dawn ceremony and an official opening yesterday (15 February). All three blessings were shared by Te Whanau o Irakwea Maori Health Services, Kahui Kaumatua and the Hospital Chaplaincy.

Dr Matthew Preston, lead radiologist at Whakatane Hospital, says the whole commissioning process has gone very smoothly, enabling the scanner to kick in on schedule and on budget.

“It’s an exciting new venture for us,” he says.

“The shorter scanning time provided by the new scanner is good for patients, especially children, as it should lead to less need for sedation.”

He says patients who have been scanned before on the old system are enthusiastic about the high speed of the new scanner, and the brand new $560,000 facilities in which it is housed.

It’s the same digital scanner system as at Tauranga Hospital, ensuring compatibility of images and diagnosis.

The images are all digital, enabling authorised doctors to view them on their own PCs, making the use of film and chemicals redundant.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board chairwoman Mary Hackett cut the official ribbon, and DHB chief executive Phil Cammish and Eastern Bay Energy Trust chairman Kevin Hennessy spoke at the ceremony.

The Trust provided the new scanner through a combination of a lease and grant funding. The CT scanner is owned by the Trust’s subsidiary, Development Enterprises Ltd (DEL), and is being leased to the hospital under a seven-year agreement, including interest.

The hospital’s old scanner was nearly eight years old, and there have been major technical advances in that time.

“New techniques for scanning have developed in the past few years, and these are better suited to the detail and speed of the new machine,” Dr Preston says.

The speed of the new scanner will be of great assistance in diagnosing injuries in emergency situations, he says, and it also gives the Whakatane facility the ability to undertake some studies to show arteries and veins rather than patients travelling to Tauranga for these.

General Electric (GE) staff installed the scanner and equipment package. An innovative picture archiving system, developed in partnership with BOPDHB Radiology and IT departments and GE, is part of the CT installation and is due for commissioning soon.

ENDS

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