The Henderson-Massey Local Board is advocating for central government funding to upgrade Waitākere Hospital and increase its services and capability.
According to the Board’s draft three-year plan, out for consultation, a particular focus is to ensure that Henderson-Massey is a great place to live, work and play. The board sees the health of its population as crucial to this goal.
The Waitematā District Health Board (WDHB) serves the largest, and fastest-growing population of any DHB in the country. There are currently more than 639,000 residents in the district, and this is expected to rise to around 739,000 by 2025.A proposal to expand patient capacity at Waitākere Hospital is awaiting a funding decision from the government.
The Henderson-Massey Local Board has taken a stand in advocating for funding to rapidly progress improvements to Waitākere Hospital to provide more patient services and resources for the local community.
Increasing capacity
Board chair Chris Carter says that increasing capacity at the hospital will make a significant difference to its ability to care for the population, in line with the board’s outcome goal.
“In our view the application by WDHB for funding to increase the capacity at Waitākere Hospital is a high priority, it’s a ready to go infrastructure project that is both overdue and very topical given the current COVID-19 global health pandemic,” he says.
“We know that the community feels strongly that the Waitākere Hospital precinct needs upgrading and to provide more services for our large and growing population."
Gaps in provision
“There are gaps in health provision for our West Auckland communities. Currently, many patients are having to travel an unreasonable distance to access healthcare at North Shore Hospital.
“Government funding the proposed project will go some distance towards meeting this need and will be celebrated as a huge success in West Auckland.
“While the board can only advocate to government along with Waitematā DHB, we hope that with support through the Local Board Plan consultation, we can support the already compelling case for government to allocate the much-needed funds to a thoroughly worthwhile project.”
Have your say
You can have your say on this outcome goal and the rest of the local board plan at akhaveyoursay.co.nz/lovelocal by 13 August.
