Construction of Palmerston North children’s emergency department to begin in February

The proposed design of the children's emergency department to be built at Palmerston North Regional Hospital.

Construction of a separate children’s emergency department at Palmerston North Regional Hospital is to start this month.

During the Christmas break, construction prep was carried out on site, Palmerston North Hospital Foundation chairman Brendan Duffy said.

This included the removal of ceiling tiles and task lights from the space where the children’s ED will be. Hospital staff plan to reuse these items in the children’s ED.

Furniture, fittings and equipment from the space were also removed — all of which staff plan to reuse in the children’s ED or other parts of the hospital. If anything can’t be reused, it will be recycled or safely disposed of.

Hospital staff are finalising the last of the paperwork, which includes obtaining building consent.

“We’re aiming for construction to start soon in February. The space is currently vacant so once the consent is approved, the construction will get under way and progress rapidly,” Duffy said.

The foundation has raised $606,601 so far. This consists of $488,601 in the bank, $100,000 in pledges, and an estimated $18,000 still to come from a Givealittle campaign.

The foundation has been blown away by the financial support it received.

“People know how important this project is and we’re still on track to have the children’s ED open and ready for use in the first half of this year. While we’ve reached the funding needed to get construction under way, we are still actively fundraising.”

This includes equipment the children’s ED will need to operate.

“If you’d like to fundraise, whether it’s through mufti days, raffles, bake sales or a donation, it all makes a difference.”

Meanwhile, Viv’s Kitchen in Sanson has donated $1000 to the foundation. For every cream horn it sold during one weekend in December, the cafe donated $1.

The cafe sold 656 cream horns, and received $9 of donations. Co-owner Viv Withers said they decided to round the amount up to $1000.

To make a donation or find out ways to fundraise, go to pnhospitalfoundation.co.nz or email info@pnhospitalfoundation.co.nz.

Judith Lacy has been the editor of the Manawatū Guardian since December 2020. She graduated from journalism school in 2001 and this is her second role editing a community paper.