This Day in Norwood History-February 15, 1962-Expanded Hospital Has Lead-Lined X-Ray Room

The members of the Norwood Hospital Building Committee recently inspected the rapidly developing .addition to the Norwood Hospital and went away feeling pleased and justly proud of the accomplishments to date. Among the members of the Committee present were Ralph A. Hill, Walpole; Arthur P. Allen, Norwood; Thomas J. Foley, Norwood and Burgess P. Reed, East Walpole. They were accompanied by Charles A. Richardson, Administrator of the Hospital. Unable to attend was William L. Hyland of Norwood.

An area of particular interest to the Building Committee was the x-ray department located on the main floor of the existing hospital’s south wing. Joined with the new building and occupying a part of it, the x-ray suite will be substantially enlarged. It will provide complete and efficient x-ray service to the thousands of patients to be served by the department annually Complete renovation oí’ the existing x-ray department is planned to coincide with the new construction.

Because radiation is dangerous if exposure to it is prolonged, hospital x-ray procedures are conducted with utmost safety for the patient as well as doctors, technicians, personnel, and visitors. Careful planning of Norwood Hospital’s new X-ray suite was accomplished through consultation of physicists architects and with x-ray engineers ensuring that the plans included proper safety specifications.

For example, all of the walls in the renovated and newly constructed x-ray rooms will be lined with lead shielding to prevent the escape of radiation into the corridors and other adjoining areas. Even the ceiling of the deep therapy room is to be lead-lined to prevent stray radiation from traveling through the ceiling and the floor above it. The concrete floors of the x-ray rooms offer a natural barrier to radiation because of their composition and earthen foundation.

The modem Roentgen ray or x-ray tube used in the equipment of today is also designed to protect against the possibility of stray radiation and to protect x-ray technicians against exposure, all observation windows to be installed in the various x-ray rooms are of a special ad glass content which affords the same protection as a solid lead sheet one-sixteenth inches thick.

Included in the new-ray suite will be the following facilities deep therapy room, designed to eventually house a powerful machine used for deep x-ray therapy such as the treatment of cancer; three individual x-ray rooms, two to be equipped with ceiling-mounted units providing maxi mum maneuverability, one to be equipped with an upright unit for chest x-ray; recovery room; viewing room, equipped with wall mounted viewing boxes for use of the patient’s physician; special procedure room; film tile room; offices; conference room, and darkroom equipped to automatically process x-ray film. A separate waiting room is also provided for patients undergoing extensive diagnostic procedures, thus patients not fully attired in “street” clothes will not be required to sit in the general outpatient waiting room area.

In addition to the extensive and complete x-ray department located on the main floor, a subsidiary x-ray and developing unit will be located in the operating suite for use during operative procedure such as the pinning of. a fractured hip. The special facilities will enable x-rays to be taken of a patient on the operating table, developed in 30 seconds, and examined “on the built-in viewing boxes by the surgeon only minutes later.