Opening of Women's and Children's Building and Ambulatory Care Centre, Palmerston North Hospital

  • Annette King
Health

Thank you, Ian, for the welcome, and greetings to everybody here today.

I have had a keen interest in the Palmerston North Hospital site redevelopment for a number of years, so it is a pleasure to celebrate with you all the completion of the Women's and Children's Building and the new Ambulatory Care Centre this afternoon.

The hospital is now assuming a shape far different to the one that was here when I worked in Palmerston North in the early 1990s, and everyone at MidCentral Health can be very proud of what you have achieved.

Though methods of delivering health care are always evolving, hospitals will always be an important part of the social fabric of their communities.

They play greater or lesser parts in most of our lives. To illustrate this, I asked one of my staff members, who lived in Palmerston North for many years, what role Palmerston North Hospital had played in his family's lives.

Well, he said, my son's birth, of course. Then there was the ruptured achilles tendon. And the scalded arm, The finger that was sawn in half. The electrical burn. The car accident. The knee reconstruction. The broken finger. The broken thumb. The gashed eye. The stomach pump. I was almost sorry I asked. I certainly felt sorry for the hospital.

I guess, however, his family's demands on the system prove a point. This Government does not believe health services should just be adequate - they need to be better than that.

The vision of this Government is to have a high performing public health system in which people have confidence. An important part of achieving this vision will be ensuring that the quality of facilities and the services provided through them are continually monitored and improved.

The opening today of the Women's and Children's Building and the Ambulatory Care Centre marks another stage in a $56 million project designed to bring Palmerston North Hospital into the 21st century. The buildings represent a powerful commitment to serving the Manawatu community.

It is interesting to reflect that the site on which these buildings stand was actually purchased 110 years ago specifically for a hospital. The 300 pounds the site cost, and the 3700 pounds it cost to build the first hospital on this site in 1893, might seem a far cry from a $56 million redevelopment. But both the development of more than a century ago and today's high-tech hospital have been designed to meet community needs.

There is at least one real difference, however. Public hospitals will, as I said, always have a vital role in delivering health services, and we will always need to spend money upgrading and improving them. But 107 years after the first hospital was built here, the emphasis in terms of the public health service is now changing. This Government will measure the success of the changes it is making in the health sector by the number of people it manages to keep out of hospitals in the first place.

The New Zealand Public Health and Disability Bill, currently passing through its last stages in Parliament, will provide for a collaborative, open and accountable public health service, Amongst other things, it will establish 21 District Health Boards, of which MidCentral will be one. These boards will be charged with assessing the population health needs of their own communities, and then delivering a full range of health care, including primary health care and disability services as well as hospital care, to those communities.
But to return to today's opening ... I would like to congratulate MidCentral Health staff, clinicians, and hospital design specialists for working together to develop these new facilities. Both the Women's and Children's Building and the Ambulatory Care Centre are a concrete demonstration of MidCentral Health's long-term commitment to the wellbeing of the Manawatu community.

Health services should meet people's needs, be clinically sound, culturally competent and well coordinated. They should also be efficiently delivered. Both the Women's and Children's Health Building and the Ambulatory Care Centre have been planned in the best way possible to achieve all these aims.

The range of services offered in these new facilities is extensive indeed. The Children's Health Unit features a children's ward and a children's clinic, as well as a fully enclosed outdoor play area. In a wonderful gesture, the Fitzherbert Lions Club, a long-time supporter of the Children's Ward at Palmerston Hospital, has provided the play equipment for the outdoor area.

The Women's Health Unit has antenatal, delivery, postnatal, neonatal, gynaecology and obstetrics facilities, and the postnatal ward features a choice of single or double rooms, all with ensuite. The Ambulatory Care Centre provides an extensive range of outpatient clinics, nurse clinics and diagnostic testing facilities.

There has been a growing recognition of the importance of co-locating appropriate hospital facilities to ensure more efficient delivery of health care and it is pleasing this site redevelopment is heading in this direction.

Hospital services also need to be focused on early intervention and keeping people out of hospital. The Ambulatory Care Centre is an opportunity for real health gains to be made in this area and ensure that people are treated as much as possible as outpatients and not inpatients.

Finally, I want to acknowledge again the significant contribution of MidCentral management and staff. The continued dedication and commitment of people in the health sector are crucial to building a quality public health service. That, I am sure, is what we all want. Thank you very much for inviting me here today.