New top-of-the-line digital x-ray equipment is in and operating at Wairoa Hospital after a six-week refit of the existing x-ray room.
Hawke’s Bay District Health Board radiology manager Angela Fuller said the leading-edge digital technology would futureproof Wairoa’s x-ray imaging capability ensuring an efficient and clinically effective service.
“The new machine, which is ceiling mounted, produces high quality images using less radiation,” she said.
Wairoa Hospital manager, Sonya Smith, says the refit had created a modern and bright x-ray room with additional space.
“Because the new machine is ceiling mounted, it means there is a lot more room for manoeuvring hospital beds.
“It is also much faster, taking about sixty seconds to ‘warm up’; compared to up to five minutes for the old one.”
Ms Smith said the new equipment replaced an old unit which, at 13 years old, had reached the end of its useful life. “It’s like going from an Atari to an i-Pad.”
It was not the only new technology to arrive in Wairoa this month. A new bladder scanner will save at least six people a month from having to travel to Hastings for diagnosis.
It also means the nurse practitioner from Hastings who runs a urology clinic in Wairoa once a month will not need to cart gear between the districts.
The x-ray unit is the latest in a range of new equipment for Wairoa. Earlier this month a new dedicated home dialysis unit at the hospital was opened, capable of managing access to a dialysis machine for up to eight people per week. Last year new radiology and ultrasound units were installed within the hospital.
The introduction of new and replacement technology is part of a programme to improve patient access to diagnostics within Wairoa.
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