R&B Property Group managing director Ray Cook and St John acting territory manager Janeen Whitmore pictured at the site of new St John Ambulance Station in September. Photo / File
R&B Property Group managing director Ray Cook and St John acting territory manager Janeen Whitmore pictured at the site of new St John Ambulance Station in September. Photo / File
Construction of Rotorua's long-awaited $11 million ambulance hub is now complete and it will be officially opened tomorrow.
Named Mauri Tau, Whare Waka Manaaki, Rotorua Ambulance Station, the hub has been built on Te Ngae Rd at the site previously occupied by PlaceMakers.
St John Lakes territory manager George Clicquotsaid he was excited to be only days away from the official opening.
"Plans for a new purpose-built ambulance station has been several years in the making, and there has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes, so we are grateful our ambulance staff will soon be able to operate from the new facility and provide a better service for the people of Rotorua."
Artist impression of the new hub. Photo / Supplied
He said this modern and innovative building was custom-built and meant they could focus on ambulance operations and optimising patient care with much-improved rest areas for staff, appropriate garaging and modern training facilities.
"As the service grows to meet the ever-increasing demands of Rotorua and its surrounding area, we need to future-proof ourselves and ensure we are able to meet the long-term needs of the community."
He said the site would operate as a base for the emergency ambulance service with appropriate areas to house emergency equipment and for staff to quickly access essential medical stores.
Management and administrative functions would also operate out of this facility.
"We are currently evaluating a property in Fairy Springs to operate as an additional response point, further improving our response times to those patients with the greatest need."
The new St John Ambulance station being built on Te Ngae Rd. Photo / File
The site on Te Ngae Rd has been subdivided into two developments - the St John Ambulance hub and four 500sq m industrial units that were now all tenanted.
In a news article with the Rotorua Daily Post in March, R & B Property Group managing director Ray Cook said it had been an exciting and interesting project.
An $11m grant was given from the Government Infrastructure Reference Group last year, as part of its shovel-ready projects, to help make this build possible.
St John community programmes such as health shuttle services and first aid training will stay at the existing Pererika St site.
The project has been a collaboration between Ngati Hurungaterangi, Te Arawa, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Ray Cook (R & B Property Group), the Rotorua community and St John.
