Waitakere Hospital opens new wing

By MARTIN JOHNSTON, health reporter

Storks are the birds usually associated with delivering babies, but the revitalised Waitakere Hospital has opted for a wading bird commonly seen at Auckland beaches.

An oystercatcher and its chick are painted on maternity unit signs at the long-awaited new hospital wing, which receives its first patients today.

In keeping with the beach theme, a soaring gannet points the way to the hospital's multi-therapies unit and a starfish signposts the main entrance.

Hospital planners and their public consultation groups have replaced much of the usual ward A ward B ward C set-up with local beach names, Anawhata, Titirangi and Karekare.

Around 50 elderly people will be shifted today and tomorrow from their existing wards into the adjoining new wing.

The opening of the two-storey building follows a flurry of hospital opening in the region.

The $200 million Auckland City Hospital started its eight-month-long commissioning on October 4, followed days later by stage one of the Greenlane Clinical Centre.

The new Waitakere building marks the halfway point in a $60 million expansion and upgrading of the hospital, which, in November next year, will convert it to the general hospital first promised to West Aucklanders in the 1960s.

It was originally planned to be built at the same time as North Shore Hospital.

Though the Takapuna facility progressed to a full general hospital, the Waitakere scheme stopped short for want of money.

It developed into a collection of services, including a maternity unit, acute psychiatric unit, outpatient clinics and wards for the elderly, but lacks the general acute medical and surgical facilities and emergency department that mark a general hospital.

The new wing has an emergency department and general acute facilities for Waitakere City residents, who now have to travel to North Shore Hospital.

Waitakere staff, fearing an influx of self-referred patients they cannot treat, warn that their emergency department will not open until the end of next year.

Once complete, the expanded hospital will contain 180 beds - an increase of more than 100 - and four operating theatres.

New facilities will include a 12-cot unit for sick or premature babies and a coronary care unit.

There will also be an assessment unit for sick children.

"It will be fabulous for this community not to have to travel to Starship for some cases," hospital development leader Kay Hogan said.

Environmentally friendly developments have been incorporated at the new hospital, including stormwater disposal, rainwater recycling and a low-energy-use design.

Six 20,000-litre tanks beside the new building store rainwater from the roof for flushing toilets. This is expected to save about $6500 a year in water bills.

Grassed areas and sand filters will remove some contaminants from road and parking-area rainwater, and a stormwater pond will improve the quality of water run-off from the hospital site and surrounding streets.

Stage two of the hospital project, the upgrading of many of the existing facilities, starts in about 10 days, once they are all empty.