Using a Mobile CT Scanner During Hospital Renovations: How to Maintain Imaging Capacity

Renovating a hospital CT suite can create an operational problem long before construction begins:

Where will patients be scanned while the permanent CT room is unavailable?

The renovation itself may involve construction, infrastructure work, equipment replacement, room modifications, technology upgrades, or a combination of projects.

During that time, the hospital may still need to support scheduled imaging, emergency demand, inpatient exams, and other CT volume.

A mobile CT scanner for hospital renovation can provide temporary imaging capacity while the permanent suite is offline.

Atlas Medical's Mobile CT Scanners are designed for temporary imaging needs including renovations, overflow, equipment downtime, and temporary expansion.

The important part is timing.

The temporary CT solution should be ready before the permanent CT suite becomes unavailable.

Before choosing equipment or preparing a site, define the actual problem the hospital needs to solve.



Start with four dates:

The final two dates should not automatically be treated as the same.



Construction may be complete while equipment, IT, applications training, workflow preparation, or hospital-specific readiness activities are still underway.

Temporary CT coverage should therefore be planned around the clinical capacity gap, not simply the construction schedule.

A renovation-continuity plan can work backward from the permanent suite's shutdown date.

A simplified sequence looks like this:



Permanent CT remains operational

↓

Mobile CT requirements are defined

↓

Temporary location and infrastructure are prepared

↓

Mobile CT arrives

↓

Utilities and connectivity are established

↓

Technologists receive required system-specific training

↓

Temporary workflow is tested

↓

Mobile CT reaches clinical readiness

↓

Permanent CT suite goes offline

↓

Renovation takes place

↓

Mobile CT supports imaging capacity

↓

Renovated CT suite is prepared for clinical return

↓

Imaging volume transitions back

↓

Mobile CT is removed

The goal is to avoid creating an unnecessary period where neither CT environment is ready for patients.

Atlas's Mobile CT Scanner Installation guide covers the delivery-to-go-live portion of this process in more detail.

A temporary scanner does not exist in isolation from the rest of the imaging department.



Hospital leaders should understand what workload the permanent scanner currently supports.

Review factors such as:

• Average daily CT volume
• Peak-volume periods
• Emergency department demand
• Inpatient demand
• Outpatient demand
• Types of studies performed
• Cardiac CT requirements
• Perfusion requirements
• Specialty protocols
• Hours of operation
• Weekend requirements
• Existing CT capacity elsewhere in the hospital or health system

The question is not simply:

"Do we need a temporary scanner?"

It is:

"What portion of our current CT workload must the temporary scanner support?"

That distinction helps define the equipment, software, operating schedule, and workflow requirements for the project.

Some hospitals have multiple CT scanners.



Before planning the temporary environment, determine whether another scanner can absorb part of the volume.

For example:

• Current CT volume: 100%
• Capacity absorbed by another scanner: 25%
• Volume redirected within the health system: 10%
• Remaining temporary capacity requirement: 65%

The numbers will vary by hospital, but the exercise is useful.

It prevents project teams from selecting temporary equipment without understanding what it actually needs to accomplish.

The temporary scanner should be evaluated against the clinical workload expected during renovation.



Atlas Medical's mobile CT fleet includes systems from major OEMs including Siemens, GE, Canon, and Philips.

The exact scanner should be evaluated based on the hospital's requirements.

Questions may include:

• What slice count is needed?
• What exams must continue?
• Are cardiac studies required?
• Is perfusion capability required?
• Are specialized software packages needed?
• What reconstruction capabilities are required?
• Does the hospital prefer a particular OEM?
• What system are technologists already familiar with?

Atlas also has a dedicated resource on Mobile CT Image Quality that discusses matching scanner capability to the expected workload.

A temporary scanner should not be selected simply because it is available.

It should fit the work it is expected to perform.

Renovation projects can make site selection more complicated.

The most convenient location for a mobile CT trailer may also be needed for:

• Contractor staging
• Equipment delivery
• Construction vehicles
• Cranes
• Material storage
• Temporary walkways
• Emergency access

Facilities and construction teams should therefore coordinate the mobile CT location early.

Atlas's Preparing for Your Mobile CT Scanner resource covers broader site-preparation considerations such as surface and space, connectivity, power, supplies, and regulatory requirements.

For a renovation project, the hospital should also consider how the location interacts with the construction site.

The temporary CT may be outside the hospital's normal imaging footprint.



That changes the patient journey.

Project teams should physically walk the proposed route and ask:

How does a patient get from the hospital to the mobile scanner and back?

Consider:

• Inpatients
• Outpatients
• Emergency patients
• Wheelchairs
• Stretchers
• Staff escorts
• Weather exposure
• Doorways
• Elevators
• Hallways
• Security
• Accessibility
• Distance from preparation areas

The shortest trailer location is not automatically the best location.

A slightly different location may create a much better patient route while also avoiding construction traffic.

A renovation creates two very different traffic patterns.



Construction traffic

Contractors may need access for:

• Materials
• Equipment
• Demolition
• Waste removal
• New equipment delivery
• Specialty trades

Clinical traffic

The mobile CT requires access for:

• Patients
• Technologists
• Nurses
• Supplies
• Support staff

Those routes should be reviewed together.

A mobile CT project that works on a drawing may create operational problems if patients regularly cross an active construction route.

The facilities team, construction team, radiology leadership, and mobile imaging provider should understand how the two projects interact.

A temporary scanner needs infrastructure even though it is not located in the permanent imaging suite.

Site preparation may include:

• Appropriate parking or placement area
• Electrical service
• Network connectivity
• Physical access
• Patient access
• Other project-specific infrastructure

Atlas's current site-preparation guidance identifies 480V, three-phase power as typical for mobile CT, but requirements should always be verified against the specific unit being proposed rather than using a general specification as universal.

Facilities teams needing a deeper electrical planning resource can review Mobile CT Scanner Power Requirements: What Hospital Facilities Teams Should Plan For.

Infrastructure work should ideally be completed and verified before the permanent scanner is taken offline.

Patients may be scanned in a trailer, but their imaging information still needs to move through the hospital's normal clinical systems.

Atlas states that its mobile CT scanners can connect to existing PACS/EHR environments, with IT coordination around network configuration and DICOM routing.

Hospital IT should be involved early.

Planning may include:

• Network connection
• DICOM configuration
• PACS
• RIS/EHR connectivity
• Worklist
• Image routing
• User access
• Security requirements
• Testing
  

Experienced CT technologists may still need support when the temporary scanner differs from the permanent system.

Differences may involve:

• OEM
• Scanner model
• Software
• Console layout
• Protocol organization
• Scan planning
• Reconstruction
• Post-processing
• Installed applications

Atlas includes applications training with its Mobile CT rentals.

For a deeper look at system-specific preparation, hospitals can use the CT Applications Training: Building Confidence With New Scanner Technology resource.

Training should be coordinated with the shutdown schedule.

Ideally, the team has time to become familiar with the temporary system before it becomes responsible for the renovation-period workload.

Even when the scanner performs the same clinical role, daily operations may change.



Ask where staff will:

• Prepare patients
• Start IVs when required
• Store supplies
• Access contrast
• Complete documentation
• Communicate with nursing
• Review images
• Handle emergency situations
• Move patients after scanning

The trailer may also change walking distances and communication patterns.

Small workflow changes can become significant when repeated across dozens of patients every day.

A renovation plan should therefore include a temporary operating model, not only a scanner.

The permanent CT room may contain supplies that staff access without thinking about them.

Moving into a temporary environment can expose those assumptions.

Before go-live, identify what needs to be available in or near the temporary CT environment.

That may include hospital-approved:

• Patient-care supplies
• Contrast-related supplies
• Cleaning supplies
• PPE
• Linens
• Emergency equipment
• Documentation materials
• Other department-specific items

Atlas's site-preparation guidance also recommends planning consumables before operations begin.

The hospital should determine the appropriate inventory and storage requirements for its own clinical workflow.

Renovation projects already involve many stakeholders.

Adding temporary imaging introduces another project track.

A simple responsibility map can help.

Exact responsibilities will vary by project.

What matters is that each critical task has a clear owner.

One way to keep the project focused is to track five readiness areas.



1. CAPACITY

• Required CT volume defined
• Required exams identified
• Scanner configuration selected
• Hours of operation established

2. SITE

• Temporary location approved
• Delivery access confirmed
• Construction conflicts reviewed
• Patient route established

3. INFRASTRUCTURE

• Electrical requirements confirmed
• Network available
• Required facility work completed
• Unit-specific requirements verified

4. CLINICAL READINESS

• Technologists identified
• Applications training scheduled
• Supplies available
• Temporary workflow defined

5. TRANSITION

• Temporary go-live date established
• Permanent shutdown coordinated
• Renovation milestones tracked
• Permanent return-to-service criteria defined
• Mobile CT removal planned

A renovation should not move into the shutdown phase simply because one of these areas is ready.

The project needs alignment across all five.

Renovations do not always finish on the original date.



Unexpected conditions can appear after construction begins.

Equipment schedules can change.

Testing or commissioning can take longer than expected.

For that reason, the mobile CT rental period should not be based only on the most optimistic renovation schedule.

Hospital project teams should understand:

• Rental duration
• Extension options
• Extension notice requirements
• Equipment availability
• Commercial terms
• Demobilization timing

The hospital should know what happens to temporary imaging capacity if the permanent project moves by several weeks.

Construction completion is an important milestone.

It is not necessarily the same as clinical readiness.

Before moving CT volume back into the renovated room, the hospital may still need to complete applicable:

• Equipment installation
• Equipment testing
• IT integration
• PACS workflow preparation
• Applications training
• Department workflow preparation
• Hospital-specific readiness activities

The mobile scanner can continue supporting imaging capacity while those final steps are completed, depending on the rental agreement and project plan.

The return to the permanent CT suite should be planned just like the move into temporary CT.

Define:



Last planned day in mobile CT

↓

Permanent scanner clinical readiness

↓

Patient scheduling transition

↓

Staff transition

↓

Supplies moved back

↓

Temporary workflow closed

↓

Mobile CT demobilized

The hospital should avoid creating a new capacity gap at the end of the project by removing temporary imaging too early.

Before shutting down the permanent CT room, hospital teams can use this framework:

Any unresolved "No" deserves attention before the permanent scanner goes offline.

Atlas Medical provides Mobile CT Scanner rentals for hospitals managing renovations, equipment upgrades, overflow, temporary expansion, and other imaging-capacity needs.



Atlas's current Mobile CT offering includes systems from Siemens, GE, Canon, and Philips, PACS/EHR integration support, applications training, technical support, and flexible temporary imaging options.

Hospitals preparing for renovation can make the initial planning conversation more productive by having the following information available:

• Permanent CT shutdown date
• Renovation timeline
• Expected temporary imaging duration
• Current CT volume
• Required exam types
• Preferred scanner/OEM
• Proposed mobile location
• Infrastructure status
• IT contact
• CT leadership contact
• Applications-training requirements
• Expected permanent-suite return date

For additional planning guidance, hospital teams can also explore the Atlas Medical Resources library.

The objective is straightforward:

Have temporary CT capacity clinically ready before the permanent suite goes offline—and keep it available until the renovated CT environment is truly ready to take patients back.