Waitaki health service ‘ripe with opportunity’

Discussing opportunities for Waitaki District Health Services at Oamaru Hospital yesterday are ...
Discussing opportunities for Waitaki District Health Services at Oamaru Hospital yesterday are (from left) Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher, Health Minister Andrew Little, Stronger Waitaki’s Helen Algar, Te Runanga o Moeraki representative Desiree Mahy, Labour list MP Rachel Brooking, Youth MP Ethan Reille, Oamaru Pacific Island Community Group general manager Hana Halalele and Waitaki District Health Services chief executive Keith Marshall. PHOTO: KAYLA HODGE
Health Minister Andrew Little believes Waitaki District Health Services (WDHS) is "ripe with opportunity".

Mr Little visited Oamaru Hospital yesterday to meet Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher, WDHS chief executive Keith Marshall and Stronger Waitaki, Oamaru Pacific Island Community Group and Te Runanga o Moeraki representatives about funding concerns.

Mr Little said there were "really good" discussions, giving him a better understanding of the challenges at Oamaru Hospital — the largest district council-owned health service in New Zealand — and district health providers.

"Really keen to make sure that the locality planning process serves Oamaru and Waitaki well and that means good support for this facility and for health care generally," Mr Little said.

Nine locality processes had been set up under the new health reforms, and there were principles for community input and support. That was already happening in Waitaki, he said.

"I’ll go back and check with Health New Zealand but I would hope that Waitaki is one of the next cabs off the rank because it seems to me that all the ingredients for good-quality locality planning are here.

"Then the funding decisions should follow from that."

Mr Kircher spoke to Mr Little earlier this year and yesterday’s discussions followed on from that.

The group had two main concerns — pay parity for all staff and overall financial sustainability, as the council-owned hospital could not pick up deficits the way district health board hospitals could.

"It’s not really about the ownership," Mr Kircher said.

"It’s about making sure rural communities are treated equitably in comparison with urban communities."

He agreed the Waitaki health service was full of opportunities.

"We are holding up our health model in Waitaki, which is something which is very much about what the future for councils and communities can be.

"They see us as a shining light of how you can get better outcomes for communities if you’ve got all of the pieces of the puzzle working together and including, very importantly, the funding."

kayla.hodge@odt.co.nz