By ALEXIS GRANT
A real estate agency has teamed up with the Starship Foundation charity to provide a new diagnostic machine for Auckland's children's hospital.
For every property listed and sold by Barfoot & Thompson, a family-run company based in Auckland and Northland, Starship Children's Health will move closer to getting a
new $300,000 ultrasound machine.
The equipment will be "better for the patients because the scans will be quicker, give more information and more accurate detail", says Dr Sally Vogel, clinical director of Starship radiology.
The face of the campaign is 14-year-old Sally Jamieson of the North Shore, who suffers from cancer in her brain, liver, spleen and lung.
For Sally and other children, ultrasound is the preferred method of diagnosis because there is no radiation and it is not painful, says Dr Vogel.
After each property sale, Barfoot & Thompson will add a Lego block to a sculpture in the Starship lobby.
Once that sculpture is 2m high, the company will donate the equipment to the hospital.
It should take about 5000 building blocks - or property sales - to complete the sculpture. With 900 salespeople, the company hopes to donate the machine by February or March, says director Peter Thompson.
Starship has two ultrasound machines, one old and one new.
But the new equipment will help decrease waiting lists and has the latest technology. It is voice-activated, which allows the doctor to have two hands on a patient while using the machine, and can create images of children even if they are moving.
