Back row (from left): Dental Assistant Sue Roughton, SMO Dental Geoff Hunt, Belinda Juno; Seated: Rachel Juno with the new monitor.
The Juno family recently donated a new Welch Allyn Vital signs monitor, which monitors patients while they are undergoing treatment under sedation. Rachel Juno (aged 27) has first-hand experience of dental procedures during which the monitor may be used, having been a patient at the Hutt Valley DHB Dental Unit for 15 years.
“We are really grateful to the hospital to have this facility to come to,” says Mum, Belinda. “We wanted to give something back to
the Dental Unit as the service has been really good.”
Senior Medical Officer at Hutt Hospital’s Dental Unit Geoff Hunt, said the monitoring unit allows dental clinicians to treat more patients who are unable to cope with treatment in a more conventional manner.
“Already, there has been a reduction in the number of patients we have referred to theatre for dental procedures under general
anaesthetic,” he says. “This equipment also ensures that we can continue to comply with regulations that are designed with the health and safety of patients in mind.”
Recent changes to procedural sedation regulations from the Dental Council of New Zealand require patients’ vital signs to be continuously monitored, from the time of drug administration until the patient is discharged in a fit condition.
“Thanks to the Juno family’s generosity, we can take pride in knowing that we are meeting this requirement and offer a valuable service to those most in need,” says Geoff.
The Juno family have owned and operated Juno Civil Ltd in the Hutt for 40 years, notably constructing the Ewen Bridge back in 1993.
