The opening coincided with Dunstan Hospital's 150th celebrations, and more than 200 people packed the hospital foyer to hear from some of those instrumental in obtaining the scanner - Central Otago Health Services Ltd chairman Russell McGeorge, Central Otago Health Inc chairwoman Ainsley Webb and Central Lakes Trust chairman Sir Eion Edgar.
After they praised the efforts of Central Otago residents in securing the machine, Roxburgh Lions club president Owen Johnston presented a $10,000 cheque from the Roxburgh Lions and Rotary paddock auction and sulky races in July.
The Central Lakes Trust funded the $1 million scanner, and Friends of Dunstan and the district's 13 Lions and Rotary groups raised the $250,000 needed for the scanner suite fit-out.
Mrs Webb said she was ''hugely proud that this has happened over a relatively short time'' and said it echoed the efforts of the ''struggle of the early people to get a hospital established''.
Mr McGeorge said 168 people had been scanned since the machine began operating in June, and 26 of them had been private.
He said the Friends of Dunstan group was necessary for the survival of a ''hospital like ours''.
