Time for health talks

Ruapehu Bulletin, 3 August 1993, Page 1

Time for health talks

The recent public meeting with members from Good Health Wanganui (GHW) about the future of Health Services for the Waimarino and the future of Waimarino 's Hospital left many issues for the most part unresolved, so a further meeting has been arranged. Ron Janes, chief executive, let the public know that the Waimarino Health Centre could not remain as it is now, that is operating as a hospital open and staffed round the clock, as well as maintaining the present health services. Present services a list written down by the Health Watch Committee and given to members of GHW and members of the public on their arrival at the meeting) include: in-patient care, maternity services, district nursing, public health nursing, radiography, physiother-

apy, social contact and 10 out-patient clinics. These would be reduced if the old hospital building were kept, said Mr Janes, due to costs that would be involved in up-grading in order to meet new standards required to get a hospital licence and for meeting fire and safety standards. Actual figures were not available so members of the public were unable to compare costs of upgrading the existing building with those incurred by building a smaller purpose-built health centre. There were concerns expressed at how a centre open on an as-required basis would work as opposed to having a centre manned and ready-to-go, round-the-clock, as we have at present. "All-in-all there was a lot to think about and we need to get together and Tum to page 2