Hokianga healthcare celebrates 100 years

One hundred years of healthcare in the Hokianga will be celebrated in Rawene this weekend.

Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust is cele-brating the hospital’s centenary on Saturday and Sunday.

It invites people with an interest in the Hoki-anga to attend the commemorations, which will include the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, a cabaret dance, boat trips and a church service.

People planning to attend the commemorations, which begin on Saturday with a powhiri at 9.30am, can register at www.hokiangahealth.org.nz or call (09) 405-7320.

Late registrations will be accepted at the nurses home on
Saturday at 8am.

The trust has produced a book about the history of healthcare in the Hokianga.

People can order the book for $20 when they register for the commemorations or pay $30 for a copy at the weekend.

Milestones include:

Construction of a cottage hospital on the site of the current hospital in 1909.

Thirty-four year tenure of Dr George McCall Smith who was hospital head from 1914 to 1948.

Construction of a new hospital in 1928, hailed as the best and most up-to-date in the country

Introduction of medicated painless childbirth at the hospital in the 1930s, resulting in a rise in maternity admissions and annual births increasing from 30 to 200

Hokianga's designation as a special area with free health services in 1941, laying the foundation for the integrated services the area boasts today

Formation of the the Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust in 1992 and improvements to the hospital campus since then.

 

- © Fairfax NZ News