Dawn (Friday 30 September 2022) marked the official
opening of the Wellington region’s new Child Heath Service
and hospital – Te Wao Nui – that has been built with the
wellbeing of tamariki, rangatahi and whānau at its
heart.
Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley,
Mana Whenua, with the Wellington Hospitals Foundation
welcomed the Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, Minister for
Health, Andrew Little, philanthropists Mark Dunajtschik and
Dorothy Spotswood, and other key donors and guests to
celebrate one of the most significant capital investment
projects for Child Health in
Australasia.
Governor-General, Dame Cindy Kiro invited
Mark Dunajtschik and Dorothy Spotswood to join her in
unveiling the plaque which officially opened the “Mark
Dunajtschik and Dorothy Spotswood building, which Te Wao Nui
Child Health Service and hospital is housed.
“Our
teams are excited to be working in a purpose-built facility
which brings together all child health services which were
previously located in different parts of the Wellington
Regional Hospital, under one roof for the first time,”
said interim District Director, Sarah Jackson. “This will
improve the clinical collaboration and communication across
an important part of New Zealand’s specialist children’s
hospital network.”
“Most importantly visiting Te
Wao Nui will be a better experience for young people and
their families. Often hospital visits and stay can be
anxious and worrying for everyone, so being able to provide
patients and their families with more privacy in larger,
brighter rooms with pull down beds and private toilets helps
make it that less stressful. Most importantly it can help
speed up children’s recovery from illness or
surgery.
Existing child hospital and outpatient
services will be provided in the hospital, allowing for
greater clinical collaboration and communication across an
important part of New Zealand’s specialist children’s
hospital network.
Children requiring emergency care,
intensive care, radiology, surgery and other specialist
services will continue to receive this care in the main
Wellington Regional Hospital.
Chair of the Wellington
Hospitals Foundation Bill Day said, “It was a privilege to
have introduce Mark Dunajtschik and Dorothy Spotswood to the
Capital and Coast District Health Board with an idea of a
new children’s hospital. This is a dream that has turned
into a reality. It is also important to acknowledge the
thousands of small and major donors from the wider
Wellington region who have believed in a new children’s
hospital and have contributed so magnificently with $10
million.”
About Te Wao Nui
Te
Wao Nui is the name for the Child Health Service and
hospital. The building itself is named the Mark Dunajtschik
and Dorothy Spotswood Building in recognition of their
generous and unprecedented $53 million donation. Both their
names will feature prominently inside and outside the new
hospital building in honour of their gift to the young
people of our region.
· The new hospital is around
7,500m² which is spread over three floors. It
includes:
– 151 beds – in bedrooms, consult rooms
and clinical rooms
– 50 inpatient hospital beds, as
well as social and family/whānau areas
– Outpatient
and clinical consultation rooms
– Staff and
administration areas.
· The cost of the building
works, including furniture, equipment and fittings is
approximately $116 million. Financial contributions to the
hospital include:
o Mark Dunajtschik’s commitment
towards building and donating a new Wellington Regional
Children’s Hospital – $53 million donation
o The
Government’s contribution to enable site testing and
preparation, drainage and demolition of three buildings to
make way for the new 7,500m2, three story, stand-alone
Children’s Hospital – $46 million
o The Wellington
Hospitals Foundation’s community fundraising and
contribution – $10 million
o Te Whatu Ora Capital,
Coast and Hutt Valley’s contribution – $7
million.
· The District’s Child Health Service is
an important part of New Zealand’s specialist children’s
hospital network. It supports babies to adolescents (16
years and under) with medical conditions and paediatric
surgery.
· Specialist paediatric surgery is only
performed at five hospitals in the country. We provide
paediatric surgical services for children from the Capital
and Coast region, as well as children from Hutt Valley,
Wairarapa, Manawatu, Whanganui, Hawkes Bay, Nelson and
Marlborough.
· Around 7,500 children per year are
admitted to the hospital wards at Wellington Regional
Children’s Hospital. Around 80 percent of the children live
in the District’s area; the other 20 percent are children
from the lower North Island and upper South Island.
·
There are more than 87,000 young patient visits to
Wellington Regional Children’s Hospital each year – most
of which are outpatient
visits.
© Scoop Media
Discussion about this post