Ruapehu Wellness Centre project leaders keen to see it progress

The Waimarino Health Centre in Raetihi. Photo / Supplied

An initiative to bring Waimarino health and social services together as an integrated model is slowly making progress.

A Crown loan of $2 million was secured in early 2020 for phase one of the Ruapehu Wellness Centre project, with a further $3 million dedicated to phase two.

It was still in phase one, which covered the clinical building, existing building refurbishments, site works, car parking and an ambulance bay, Whanganui District Health Board chief executive Russell Simpson said.

"Phase two looks at the staff facility, offices, the hui and event space and the birthing unit.

"After that is the healing centre, and there is some contingency funding in that phase."

The DHB received community feedback and recommendations on a model of care on January 27.

"There was extensive feedback, ranging from conventional and holistic health services to traditional Māori methods of healing," Simpson said.

"We are certainly supportive of not just health models of care but wellbeing models as well."

Simpson said the DHB formed the original funding proposal after the Ngāti Rangi-led Ruapehu Whānau Transformation programme presented community solutions, of which health was one.

As a Crown agent, he wanted to ensure there was a balance between community aspirations and the practicalities of the Crown funding agreement.

"Any variation from that original loan agreement needs to be scoped and agreed by the Crown.

"We're continuing to work with the community on what health services are required for the region."

Refurbishing the Waimarino Health Centre in Raetihi was the easier part of the project to commission and develop, Simpson said.

When completed, Ruapehu Health, the Waimarino Health Centre and iwi health and social service providers would be under one roof.

"The staffing, models of care and service delivery are more challenging," Simpson said.

"We need to ensure we are setting the community up for long-term, sustainable options.

"It's more than just bricks and mortar, it's a whole integrated service."

Honey Winter, chairwoman of Ruapehu Health Limited and the interim Ruapehu Wellness Centre board, said the local community wanted "to see something happening".

She said the move to phase two was in the hands of the DHB.

"They have a process they need to go through and we respect that.

"I'm confident they will come to the party before they exit [on July 1], but the locality group under the new Ministry of Health structure absolutely knows about it and is very supportive.

"A lot of planning and a lot of discussions have taken place. We don't take this on lightly, but it's certainly what our community wants.

"In terms of health dollars, it is the smart way to work. There is buy-in from all parties that are providing health and social services in this region, which is great."

Only a small part of the $2 million loan had been used so far, Simpson said.

"That has been spent on engaging an external architect to work with the community and with Erena Mikaere in her role as the project lead for the Ruapehu Whānau Transformation project."

Russell Simpson says resources had to be deferred away from the project because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo / Bevan Conley

The outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020 meant resources had to be transferred from the project.

"In a non-Covid world we would have made substantial progress," Simpson said.

"I had a finite resource which I needed to prioritise in the last two years and, unfortunately, projects such as this have been delayed.

"The health system has been under pressure so there hasn't been an availability of people to assist us. We've had to prepare everything for a transition to Health New Zealand."

He said the DHB, for as long as it was an entity, remained committed to progressing the project.

One focus of the centre was to change the mindset of communities, Winter said.

"It's about looking at their own health and wellbeing in a more positive light, as opposed to just going to the doctor all the time.

"I think we will be a force to be reckoned with when we all come together."

Providers in the Waimarino couldn't be faulted in terms of the work they currently put in, Winter said.

"I don't think we will be duplicating services when things are amalgamated.

"When you're in a rural area it is really important. It also gives us the ability to determine where any gaps in service delivery are."

A meeting between all the parties involved in the project was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.