Minister of Health Tony Ryall officially opened two new scanners for use at Hawke's Bay Hospital yesterday.
The $2.5 million diagnostic CT scanners enable a picture to be drawn using computer-processed x-rays, in place of exploratory surgery.
Radiology manager Paula Jones said it was a great day for Hawke's Bay patients.
"We now have two scanners that provide diagnostic CT capability that can back each other up if we need them to," she said.
"This will reduce wait times, and will mean people won't have to travel out of town if the main CT scanner is out for maintenance.