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Friday, July 13, 2018
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Know your local 2018
TEAMWORK: Wayne and Bronwyn Ashton have spent 10 years running Wangaratta X-Ray. PHOTO: Kylie Wilson
Circle of local support A DEEP commitment to service and the community drive Wayne and Bronwyn Ashton, who this month mark the 10th anniversary of Wangaratta X-Ray. Wayne said the key principle of their business is “to provide the best service we can with the resources we’ve got” to patients and referring professionals alike, and said he, his family and staff all have deep ties to the local community. They were initially inspired to open the business by business partner Radiologist Dr James Mullins, who was working in medical imaging in Albury at the time. The three were watching
a soccer match when James suggested they work together to open the imaging facilities in Wangaratta. The pair opened the business, with the help of original reception and administration staff member Carmel Poulter, on July 14, 2008, and the business has grown in leaps and bounds since then. “It’s been really good for us,” Wayne said of the business growth over the years. Initially, they just had x-ray and dental x-ray machines and an ultrasound machine, but they added a CT scanner and additional ultrasound facilities two years later during their first
extension work. In August 2012, they took over imaging facilities at Wangaratta Private Hospital. In the years to follow, they added mammography equipment and worked more on interventional procedures with their patients in addition to diagnostic procedures. Their most recent improvement, in July last year, was the addition of a 3D mammography system, which can often detect abnormalities that standard mammography tests cannot, and is one of the most advanced systems available in the world. Wayne said that the business
has also expanded in staff, from opening with just three people initially to being part of the six X-Ray Group sites across the Border and North East.The X-ray Group combined now employs over 60 staff. He added that he and his team have relished being able to help people from across the region and beyond, remarking that on occasions some former residents make a point of returning to Wangaratta to use their services when they are in need of health services – even from interstate.
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