New wellbeing space for Kaitaia Hospital staff

Kaitaia Hospital's new Pae Ora space is a place dedicated to the wellbeing of staff.

A lofty, serene rooftop chill-out zone has been created to help support the wellbeing of local Far North medical staff.

The new ‘Pae Ora’ space at Kaitaia Hospital was officially opened last Thursday with a blessing by the hospital kaumātua Hohepa Stephens and Malcolm Robson followed by some light refreshments.

‘Pae Ora’ was gifted to the space by the kaumātua and means ‘place of wellbeing’.

It also symbolises the importance of staff taking a break to care for themselves in the midst of caring for others.

Toni Pirini, a local teacher and wife of Kaitaia Hospital Clinical Lead Dr Joel Pirini, put her hand up to create the space as her way of “giving back”.

Pirini said she’d noticed staff were looking tired and worn out and felt it would be helpful to provide a place where they could get away and take a breather.

Toni Pirini, Vicki Fryer and Kelly Larkins worked together to make the space come to life.

The Pae Ora space features plants, an egg chair, a picnic table and several whakatauki (Māori proverbs) which encourage relaxation, positivity and wellbeing.

Pirini said there was also a purpose for the bright orange and olive green wall colours, with orange representing optimism and warmth and green representing nature and grounding.

“You all look after the most vulnerable people in the community and this was a little thing I could do to help look after you,” Pirini told staff.

“It’s a space you can come to recharge and re-energise and I hope you can come sit up here and eat your lunch and then go back to your busy mahi (work) and lives.

“You give so much of yourselves to everyone else and hopefully this gives a little bit back to you.”

During the early days of Covid-19, Kaitaia Hospital was provided with a hospital Welfare Team to ensure staff were getting the adequate care they needed during that stressful time.

This included providing a small space for staff to come and get a cup of coffee or tea and to relax in comfortable chairs.

Hospital staff attend the opening of Pae Ora.

Once Covid-19 had settled, however, funding dried up for the welfare initiatives and the team noticed how staff were missing a space to hang out.

Pirini said she therefore approached the Welfare Teamin October to see how she could be of assistance and together they managed to secure a small amount of funding to create the new space.

She said she approached several local businesses for support, who had gone above and beyond to help get the project off the ground by the December 1 deadline.

“I went around to a lot of local businesses and because of this time of year, they were all really busy and unsure they could fit it in,” Pirini said.

The new Pae Ora space offers a tranquil area for hospital staff to take a break and re-energise.

“When I explained what I was doing, they all made sure they could help which was amazing.

“It just goes to show there are lots of people who appreciate the hospital staff and what they do for our community.”

Kelly Larkins (Sub Acute/Oral Health Co-ordinator) and Vicki Fryer (Occupational Therapy Charge) are both part of the Welfare Team.

They said when the first space disappeared, it was obvious how much the staff missed it.

“They really felt it because it’s sometimes important for them to retreat to a space away from the public just to have a break,” Fryer said.

“The staff really appreciated and enjoyed that space, particularly the night staff,” Larkins said.

“We thought this area would be good because they could quickly come here during their breaks and get some fresh air.

“Our people work really hard, so they deserve this.”

The Pae Ora space is located on the Kaitaia Hospital rooftop.