Future of hospital not clear

The Government has been quiet on the details of a proposed new healthcare facility for the West Coast’s Buller district.

Labour promised during last year’s election campaign that it would commit $20 million to rebuild the existing Buller Hospital and scrap National’s plan for a $12m Integrated Family Health Centre (IFHC).

Buller Hospital Action Group spokeswoman Anita Halsall-Quinlan said the community had been given no information on the new Government’s plans.

The West Coast District Health Board has already started recruiting and appointing staff for the IFHC.

‘‘They had consultation with staff recently and they presented a new plan with only small changes within the build. Nothing appears to have changed. It is still within the funding limit and the size of the site hasn’t changed. They have never consulted the community. We have had no information,’’ Halsall-Quinlan said.

The previous Government planned to build an IFHC that would be owned by ACC and leased by the West Coast District Health Board (DHB). It was to be built across the road from the existing hospital, but would be only a quarter of the size at 1632 square metres.

The action group questioned the size and proposed site for the new facility, calling it ‘‘poorly researched and highly questionable’’.

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern visited the West Coast during the election campaign and promised to ‘‘invest in the health services the West Coast needs’’.

‘‘Labour will commit to the redevelopment of Buller Hospital on the existing site, with all of the funding coming from the Crown . . . This will cost up to $20m in capital. Labour commits to developing a fitfor-purpose hospital, which reflects the community it serves,’’ she said during the September 14 visit.

Halsall-Quinlan said West Coast Labour MP Damien O’Connor previously announced the ACC funding model had been scrapped and wrote a ‘‘reassuring’’ letter to the community in January.

‘‘That’s nearly two months ago and we’ve heard nothing since. The feedback from staff we are hearing is that their concerns are not being heard by the DHB. They haven’t discussed rebuilding the hospital on the existing site. They haven’t looked at the cost of demolishing the existing hospital.’’

Buller Hospital’s aged-care ward closed last Wednesday and all of the residents were moved to O’Conor Home. The home now had only one spare bed, meaning elderly might have to be sent outside the district, which had an ageing population.

‘‘We are disappointed at that. Labour promised us that aged care would be provided in the new hospital, but they’ve sat back and let the DHB close Dunsford ward,’’ HalsallQuinlan said.

The proposed IFHC had no agedcare beds, she said.

‘‘We would like the new facility to be called a hospital as opposed to an IFHC because that reflects the lightweight primary care structure that’s currently proposed. We will lose services and we will lose jobs.’’

The action group will hold a public meeting at 7pm today at Westport’s NBS Theatre. O’Connor, Ardern and Health Minister David Clark have been invited.

Clark said in a statement that he had met with O’Connor to discuss the project.

O’Connor’s press secretary said he was overseas and could not immediately comment. The DHB and the ministry did not respond to requests for comment.