A new state-of-the-art imaging facility at Kenepuru Community Hospital, designed by MHA, was recently opened by the Honourable Simeon Brown, Minster of Health.
A general x-ray room was converted to accommodate the new Computed Tomography scanner, with reconfiguration of surrounding spaces providing new expanded staff facilities, control room, and all-important patient preparation rooms. The Photon Counting CT, only the second of its type in New Zealand, provides higher-quality imaging at lower radiation doses than earlier CT machines. The project team successfully integrated new requirements late in construction to accommodate a change to this late-model scanner. Radiation shielding, passive fire, and building services were modified and upgraded to suit the new machine.
A critical part of the project was facilitating the delivery of the scanner to its new location. The most direct and effective route for delivery proved to be removing and reinstating the waiting room window! At 3000kgs, the new equipment was too heavy to be supported by the existing timber floors, so its route was strengthened by propping and overlaying the floor with steel plates. In its final location, the weight of the new scanner is supported by replacing part of the existing timber floor with a new concrete structure.
This long-awaited service means patients in Porirua and surrounding areas no longer need to travel to Wellington to access the latest high-quality diagnostic scanning.
