Broadway Radiology comes under the Canopy umbrella with aim to expand services

Palmerston North’s independent Broadway Radiology has joined Canopy Healthcare Group, with plans to expand the range of services it can provide.

The healthcare business has been owned by radiologist and managing partner Peter Dixon and general manager Duncan Scott since 1998, bringing the Broadway name along with them when they moved to new facilities in Grey St in 2017.

Dixon said becoming part of a larger group would provide greater clinical support for its staff and patients, and financial support to continue investing in modern technology.

As well as its Grey St centre, Broadway Radiology provides ultrasound and x-ray services in Levin and at the Feilding health centre, and provides after hours cover for City Doctors.

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It has a staff of 50, and sees up to 250 patients a day.

It provided care for patients with injuries covered by ACC, part-funded ultrasounds for women in pregnancy, and for people with suspected deep vein thrombosis referred from their GPs.

It had various contracts to deliver services for Te Whatu Ora MidCentral and Whanganui, and primary health organisations.

Dixon said none of that would change under the Canopy umbrella, and Broadway Radiology would retain its name, its staff and its patient-centred philosophy.

Canopy has 18 diagnostic clinics, six oncology clinics, a private breast surgical and diagnostic centre and a drug compounding business, making it the largest North Island diagnostic provider and largest medical oncology provider in New Zealand.

Dixon said there was a national and international shortage of radiologists as for many years training in the specialty had not kept up with the range of increasingly complex and sophisticated technologies, and demand.

Being part of Canopy would allow Broadway Radiology staff to tap into expertise, support, learning and development opportunities within the larger group.

It would also provide the financial strength to invest in new technologies, with room to grow on its Grey St site.

One of the possibilities would be PET (positron emission tomography) scanning, a diagnostic imaging system used to detect abnormal activity. It was not available locally at the moment, with patients requiring PET scans having to travel to Auckland or Wellington for the test.

Canopy chief executive Tony Moffatt said the expansion into Palmerston North was an important step.

He said it would be planning to provide more oncology services in the region through the new arrangement.