Southern District Health Board chief executive Chris Fleming told the Otago Daily Times the department was able to stay.
''Our building and property team has found an effective solution and radiology services does not have to relocate,'' he said.
If it had had to shift, it would have been to a temporary location until a new hospital was completed some time from 2022 to 2025.
The ceiling area was off limits because of asbestos, and an internal staff report said the board had a ''window'' of time to find a way to maintain the ''unique'' air conditioning system or the floor would need to be vacated.
Radiology is on the first floor of the clinical services building.
To get around the problem, a new air-handling system would be retrofitted below the ceiling. Work was yet to start and it would be carried out after-hours to minimise disruption.
Staff had also been dealing with a water leak in the wall of a corridor, and water leaking through the ceiling tiles.
Mr Fleming said a ''water leak containment device'' collected water from the ceiling tiles, and the corridor leak was being ''managed'' with help from infection prevention staff.
''The leak has since stopped. Longer-term solutions for carrying out repairs and maintenance are being investigated.
''Any water collected in the containment device drains into a wash hand basin U-bend waste trap, which has a connection above the waste trap water seal line.''
Mr Fleming said there had been no leaks around the radiology equipment.
The report, written last October and released under the OIA, said the board had six to nine months to find a way to maintain the air conditioning system, or the radiology department would need to shift.
''If [a suggested fix] is not viable, then we will need to move urgently to the next stage of planning which would result in us needing to identify alternative locations to house radiology until the [hospital] redevelopment.
''This will be time-consuming and very costly. It is expected that the filters are likely to clog up in around six to nine months which provides the window of opportunity,'' the confidential report says.
