What do you do if you need new equipment in your hospital, which turns out to be too big to simply bring in? At the Zaans Medical Center, a new MRI scan turned out not to fit through a door or window. The solution came in the form of a large hole in the wall next to the entrance.
The hospital needed a second MRI scan to help more patients, but that did not happen without a hitch. The device is quite large: it occupies a floor space of 28 square meters. And the thing is heavy, no less than 42.00 kilos. So it couldn’t be moved by the hospital.
Wall out again
When the hospital was built six years ago, it was already taken into account that the wall would one day have to be removed, a spokesperson said. That has happened before and yesterday it happened again. A board member and a radiologist from the hospital removed the first stones. The MRI will be placed on September 26.
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As soon as the new MRI has been placed, the old one is checked and the intention is that it will then be as good as new. The device uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create images of a patient’s body. All organs and tissues can be seen on it.
Not a daily practice
Removing the wall will certainly not be a daily practice. The spokesperson chuckles when asked whether a roller shutter can be installed, calls it back and then comes up with the answer: “Not necessary, we can now continue for at least ten years!”
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