From left; Sue Bull, Cancer Nurse Co-ordinator; Natasha Ashworth, Clinical Nurse Manager - Tui te Ora Long Term Conditions; Dr Richard Moore, Director Medical and Mental Health; East Coast MP Anne Tolley; TDH Board Chair David Scott; Tori-iti Schwass, Cancer Social Worker; Karen Hollamby, Registered Nurse and from the Cancer Society Nona Aston and Judy Livingston.
An announcement is being made this morning that a new Medical Day Ward, used for cancer treatment, will be built at Gisborne Hospital next year.
The Medical Day Ward will be built on the grassed area next to Tui te Ora.
Plans have been drawn up for the building which will be much more comfortable for patients, easier to access and better for doctors and nurses to work in.
The Medical Day Ward will be primarily used for cancer treatment. However, it will also be a base for other medical day treatments like blood transfusions or drug infusions.
Currently the Day Ward is used for a variety of surgical and medical procedures most of which people do not have to be admitted to hospital for. This means people having minor surgery, like a lump being removed to test or looking down into their stomach to find out if they have cancer, could be sitting next to people who are having chemotherapy as part of their treatment for cancer.
This will change on 26 September when the new Surgical Day Unit will be opened. All minor surgery will be moved from the Day Ward. This leaves medical day treatments needing a new home as the current space is not fit for purpose and doesn’t meet current standards.
The Medical Day Ward is expected to cost $850,000. The space will allow us to respond to expected increases in demand for services from the aging population, especially for Maori, and future government decisions on cancer screening programmes.
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Toni Lexmond | Communications Manager
Tairawhiti District Health, 421 Ormond Road, Gisborne 4010
06 869 0500 ext 8115
021 223 7094