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Te Whare Taumata o Ngā Hōhipere Taiwhenua

Rural Hospitals

Te Whare Taumata o Ngā Hōhipere Taiwhenua is the highly valued leader of the rural hospital sector in Aotearoa. 

About Us

Rural Hospitals work closely with rural general practices, allied health, and other clinical and social support services to improve the health and wellbeing of the rural communities we live and work with. We also work closely with other rural hospitals, often sharing staffing, information, and systems that enhance the way we provide services. We bring an informed and united rural hospital perspective to Hauora Taiwhenua. Through Hauora Taiwhenua, we endeavour to influence government policy and the implementation of Government Health Reforms – particularly those that will enable us to contribute to equitable health outcomes for our rural communities.

Below is a snapshot of the Rural Hospitals in Aotearoa New Zealand. You can click on each hospital to learn more about them and the services they provide.

What We’ve Been Up To

Our annual Rural Hospital Summit brings us together to discuss common issues and solutions. Some highlights from the 2023 Summit include:

  • The Summit Soap Box session. This session is a highlight of every Summit giving the opportunity to hear about the good, the great, and the not-so-great things happening across the country. It brings rural hospitals closer together, and to feeling that ‘we are not alone.’
  • Te Whatu Ora National Leaders welcomed the opportunity to join the Summit to talk about their work and initiatives that directly relate to rural hospitals.
  • Hauora Taiwhenua Chief Executive, Dr Grant Davidson, led a lively panel discussion about the experience of three rural hospitals involved in the locality prototypes, with an overview of this work from Te Whatu Ora. The most important learning from the development of locality plans is that this is a way of working that will be taken into the future, regardless of any changes to government, and their policies.
  • Three concurrent sessions where we were able to get participant feedback and input on the Rural Hospital Workforce Survey, Rural Clinical Leadership, and Rural Hospital and General Practice contracts with Te Whatu Ora.

You can read more about the Summit in our Summary Paper here:

 

Executive Committee

Jen Thomas

Chair

Margareth Broodkoorn

Deputy Chair

Dr Sarah Clarke

Clinical Director Rural Hospital Medicine Te Whatu Ora, Northern District

Bernice Marra

Michelle Smith

Ray Anton

Ray Anton holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters Degree in Management from the University of Redlands. Ray has been CEO of Clutha Health First since 2001, a rural hospital and larger General Practice. He has been a member of the Network Committee as treasurer, and he was one of founders of the New Zealand Rural Hospital Network which is now a Chapter of Hauora Taiwhenua. Ray’s first six years in New Zealand were spent as the strategic planner and quality manager for the Otago DHB and before that worked as a consultant for KPMG Peat Marwick in the United States, Middle East and New Zealand. 

Debi Lawry

I have been a nurse for 47 years. It is a career that has been varied, challenging and utterly rewarding. I have worked in urban settings, and rural New Zealand. From tertiary/quaternary hospitals to remote rural hospitals, I have been privileged to work with nurses and other healthcare professionals who share my passion for providing quality healthcare. The past 15 years my focus has been rural New Zealand. My jobs included nursing leadership roles and latterly management roles.

I joined the Rural Hospital Network executive team, to provide a nursing voice in this national organisation. I learned that rural nurses belonged to various organisations – but these focussed on the nursing profession rather than the challenges of nursing in a rural environment. Some nurses participated in the Rural GP Network. This organisation provided leadership in the rural health space, but was strongly primary healthcare focussed at that time. So rural hospital nurses didn’t identify with the organisation.

Eventually an opportunity arose for a group of like minded rural nurses, to establish a network for all rural nurses to connect. It differs from other organisations in that it has non financial membership, it connects to rural nurses across New Zealand via it’s Facebook presence and its website. An executive has been established to champion projects and provide leadership. We have deliberately tried to include nurses throughout Aotearoa working in a variety of areas. Our aim is inclusion and to improve the profile and support of rural nurses.

I live in Central Otago so have strong links rurally throughout the lower South Island. However, through Rural Nurses NZ, I feel part of a larger whanau of rural healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, and these connections remind me constantly of all that rural people have in common. Together we have more chance to improve support for rural nurses and therefore improve the healthcare that is provided to our rural communities.

Pip Zammit

Robin Rutter-Baumann