By KEVIN TAYLOR
HAMILTON - The former manager of a Hamilton women's health centre is preparing to fight against its closure.
Saskia Schuitemaker said yesterday she was calling a public meeting next Wednesday to gauge the amount of community support for keeping the Waikato Health and Information Support and Education Centre open.
The centre's drop-in service is due to close on October 30 and the counselling service on December 22 after a struggle with finances and the retirement of its six trustees.
Spokeswoman Martha Simms told the Herald the centre had struggled to survive since 1997, when it lost two health contracts worth $180,000.
But Saskia Schuitemaker said the centre was a well-established and recognised community service with a 14-year history.
There was a lot of community concern about the closure, she said.
One aim of the meeting was to see if there was support for setting up a new steering group and trust to run the services.
The centre had been contracted by the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services to provide 350 counselling sessions last year, but instead provided 770.
A contract for 950 information queries resulted in 2900 being dealt with.
"We gave really good value for money," said Saskia Schuitemaker.
She said the centre was still solvent and had enough money to run for the next six months.
Women's health centre prepares to fight closure
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