AFTER two years of extensive planning and fundraising, the new MRI Pod was craned into position at Hamilton Base Hospital (HBH) on Tuesday morning.

Weighing in at nearly 16 tonnes, the Pod made its 1850-kilometre journey from Brisbane to Hamilton arriving on Sunday evening.

Western District Health Service (WDHS) chief executive, Rohan Fitzgerald, said the culmination of planning and fundraising was finally coming to fruition with the arrival of the Pod and the installation of the MRI machine taking place today.

“We chose to install an external Pod and connect it to the main building using a linkway because we didn’t have sufficient room in the existing radiology department to house an MRI,” he said.

“Knowing the benefits of an MRI for our customers meant we needed to be really innovative in finding a solution to a tough problem. Even though it’s been an incredibly complex project we are delighted with how it’s come together.

“Thanks to the amazing support we have received from the community and the hard work from our own team we are now in a position to proceed with the project. Chris Steel Designs and local businesses, including Ultrabuild Construction, have also been incredibly supportive – for which we are extremely grateful.

“As a community we should be very proud of what we have achieved in making this important project become a reality.

“We anticipate the MRI will be fully commissioned for service in the next few weeks and the first clients should be able to access the MRI by late February. We are now progressing to the next phase of the project.”

The MRI machine will be installed into the MRI Pod today and there will be some disruption to accessing the HBH Emergency Department (ED) entrance between 7am–2pm.

Community members will access the ED through the HBH main entrance on Foster Street and staff will be on hand to help customers navigate their way into the ED during this time.