$9.8m skills & research centre for Waitemata DHB

  • Jonathan Coleman
Health

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has today opened Waitemata DHB’s $9.84 million Whenua Pupuke Clinical Skills and Research Centre at North Shore Hospital.

“The new facility will allow Waitemata DHB to support the continued training of staff and encourage research which will ensure the provisions of a world class health service,” says Dr Coleman.

“Whenua Pupuke provides conference, learning and research facilities for staff, external users and undergraduate students which will help facilitate a quality workforce who can deliver an improved patient experience.

“The centre includes a new auditorium, teaching spaces, a clinical skills laboratory, and a purpose built biomechanics laboratory. This will allow growth in simulated teaching for the 6,700 staff employed by the DHB.”

The facility will focus on new international teaching models that are built on closer collaboration between care providers and teaching institutes to enhance collegiality and knowledge sharing.

“Whenua Pupuke is one of a major suite of projects that have been completed at Waitemata DHB recently including the redevelopment of the emergency department at Waitakere Hospital, the new outpatient clinic and the Sky Bridge, all of which allow the DHB to keep up with population growth.

“Waitemata is the largest and fastest growing DHB in New Zealand, the current population is at 598,000 and is set to grow by 90,000 by 2025.”

Waitemata DHB will receive an extra $53 million in new money this year, taking the DHB’s total funding to $1.558 billion for 2017/18. That’s an extra $482 million in funding over the last nine years.

Included: Photo of Dr Jonathan Coleman cutting the ribbon with Dr Lester Levy, Chair of Waitemata DHB, Dr John Cullen, Director of Awhina and Hon Alfred Ngaro MP.