St John Kawakawa ambulance station closed for months due to toxic mould

Kawakawa St John ambulance station was closed in August due to toxic mould and there is no date to reopen it. Photo / Jenny Ling

• Far North residents risk speeding tickets to reach Bay of Islands hospital after Kawakawa ambulance station closed.
• The station shut on August 16 due to toxic mould, with no timeline for reopening.
• St John is obtaining quotes for repairs and considering a temporary location, but no details are confirmed.

Sick and injured Far North residents are risking clocking up speeding tickets to get to the Bay of Islands hospital after an ambulance station was indefinitely closed.

Three months after the St John Kawakawa ambulance station was closed due to the discovery of toxic mould, nothing has been done to fix the problem.

The station shut immediately on August 16 to minimise any further exposure to staff, following advice from St John’s environmental experts about black mould spores found in the building.

Since then, ambulance services have been relocated to other stations in the area — emergency ambulance services were relocated to Paihia station and patient transfer services to Kerikeri station, a 30- to 40-minute drive away.

Moerewa resident Daphne Andrell said many residents have had to endure long wait times.

“We live 10 minutes away from the hospital, yet we’ve got to wait two hours for someone to come in an ambulance.

“It happens more often than not.

“There’s a lot of us have decided if the ambulance is not going to be here it’s faster for us to go to Kawakawa [hospital] in the car.

“Even if it means getting a speeding ticket because they can’t provide a service for us.”

Hato Hone St John said it was still in the process of getting quotes for the work.

A spokeswoman couldn’t say when the station was expected to open, what the extent of the problem was, or the estimated cost.

“We are in the process of obtaining quotes for the required works and the reopening will be dependent on the length of time needed to complete the scope of works.

“We are also considering the option of setting up a temporary location however this has not yet been finalised.”

The three-bay station with an adjoining hall and accommodation on Gillies Rd opened in 2005 to service the Bay of Islands.

Kawakawa Business and Community Association president Malcolm Francis said the problem with mould had been known for “years” and should have been addressed “early on”.

“At the end of the day, they should have been onto it early. Toxic mould is not a good living environment, and they were hiring people prior to that.

“I was on the [St John] area committee area 15 years ago, and they still had problems with water coming through the ceiling then.

“It’s a community asset; it should have been addressed early on.”

Andrell said even when the station was open, there were still long waits for ambulances.

Several years ago, when a family member was staying with her, she was told it would be a couple of hours before an ambulance could attend.

Andrell said she had heard of numerous incidents where residents have been told ambulances have to come from as far as Rāwene in Hokianga.

“It’s pretty poor. If you were in Auckland you’d have it, what’s the difference?

“Because we live in the Far North ... they don’t care about anything north of Whangārei.”

It’s not the only Northland building with toxic mould issues.

In March the Northern Advocate reported Whangārei’s new $59 million civic centre building had leaking problems and black mould was present in some areas.

Tiny quantities of two types of toxic mould were found in the building following environmental testing.

Whangārei District Council had the whole building “fogged” with antimicrobial spray, and further tests found the building was free of mould.

WorkSafe NZ has been approached for comment regarding the Kawakawa ambulance station.

St John thanked the Kawakawa community “for their understanding while remedial work is undertaken at the station”.

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.