Experienced hand on helm

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 628, 19 March 1996, Page 5

Experienced hand on helm

By

Amiria

Teki

The Waimarino Health Centre has been up and running for some eight months now. Barbara Dempsey is the Centre' s co-ordinator and has been at the helm since January when Rowena Kui left to take up the position as manager of the Maternity Unit in Wanganui. Mrs Dempsey trained as a general nurse at the Roy al Perth Hospital in Western Australia. She and her husband John and two of their children came to live here 26 years ago. Their third son was born here. Mrs Dempsey has nursed locally for more than 16 years. She has had some queries, particularly from Ohakune residents, so she thought it was timely to up-date the current situation at the Centre.

The hospital is Staffed by trained nurses 24 hours around the clock. There are still two general beds in operation, with admissions arranged through the local general practitioners. There is a duty doctor on call at the weekends. If in doubt, the hospital staff can be contacted any time for inquiries as to who is on duty at the time. In all emergencies telephone 111. The are three maternity beds available. The unit runs in the same way as the old units did with community mid-wives offering a 7-day a week serVice and follow-through with home vi sits for ne w Mums , until things settle and mother feels confident. The Plunket Nurses service takes over from there. District Nursing service is

available five days a week. Out-patient appointments with visiting specialists are continuing at the Waimarino Health Centre as they did up at the old hospital. Other out-patient services are running well: physiotherapy operates six days a week; the X-ray department for two days on Tuesdays and Fridays. Meals on wheels continues for 5 days each week and the senior citizen's activities group meets on Wednesdays and Fridays. All senior citizens who are interested can enquire at the Centre or call Kathy Dodds. There is a small charge for the lunches provided for the activities group. Enid Windle is in charge of the clerical duties and deals with all enquiries.