Little progress on health hub
While there are recent signs of progress in the demolition of Rangiora’s old hospital, Waimakariri’s promised sevenday health facility still feels a long way off.
I visited the site last week but there is no progress to see there, no spades in the ground or signage to suggest construction is close.
I have been a strong advocate on behalf of the community to ensure residents have access to seven-day health services locally, so like the rest of the community was pleased when, at my 2020 public meeting on health, CDHB announced a new after-hours facility would be built at the Rangiora Health Hub site.
Last year I called a public meeting to update the community on health services in Waimakariri, at which CDHB chief executive Peter Bramley announced construction would start in January of this year.
I’ve been approached by a number of residents concerned at this lack of progress, and with the end of March in sight, I have written to Peter Bramley asking him to provide an urgent update.
Recent events around Covid testing highlighted the need for accessible seven-day services in Waimakariri. The volume of people making use of the RAT testing centre in Rangiora is proof it was desperately needed. These events also ignited questions about the after-hours facility, which may have lent itself to Covid testing for North Cantabrians on the weekends when their local GP clinics were closed.
I appreciate the CDHB has been busy responding to the pandemic and I understand that impediments in starting construction may be not the fault of the DHB itself. It is important, however, that the community is kept in the loop on the upcoming construction of the new facility, after patiently waiting for this promise to come to fruition.