Southern Rural Health
Southern Rural Health
Waikato DHB has three rural hospitals: Tokoroa Hospital, Te Kuiti Hospital and Taumarunui Hospital. They are part of the Community and Southern Rural Health services.
As well as offering hospital services listed below, the hospital sites host other Waikato DHB services including hospital and community based allied health, clinical nurse specialists, health promoters and other agencies and providers for their local areas.
The rural hospitals
- operate 24/7 emergency departments
- support the retrieval service (air and road ambulance) to Waikato Hospital for high acuity patients requiring complex/secondary/tertiary care
- offer a range of speciality clinics for outpatients with visiting senior doctors
- general laboratory and radiology diagnostics
- fracture clinics
- repatriation of rural patients from Waikato Hospital to a hospital closer to their own community for further care before discharge.
Specifically at
Tokoroa Hospital
- GP practices and local pharmacy are co-located on the site.
- There is a community Oral Health Dental clinic on site
- The service works in collaboration with Lakes DHB on service provision for scopes and orthopaedics.
- Primary birthing services
- Onsite physiotherapy gym.
Te Kuiti Hospital
- Te Kuiti has a well-established GP-led model that manages the Emergency Department and the 10 bed inpatient unit. The model has been in place for approximately 20 years.
- The GP practice is located on the Te Kuiti Hospital campus.
- On site physiotherapy gym.
Taumarunui Hospital
- Taumarunui Hospital has a growing number of nurse-led services.
- The hospital follows the Taumarunui Integrated Health Care model and associated pathways which were developed in collaboration with community and primary health services to achieve agreed ways of managing patients and working together.
- Endoscopy services are provided by Mobile Surgical Bus services
- Primary birthing services
- Onsite physiotherapy gym.
Key personnel
Joanne Knight
Manager, Southern Rural Health Services
Dr Shameen Safih
Clinical Director
Nora Creigh-Smith
Administration and Operational Support Manager
David Wilson
Environmental Services Manager
Marlese Weaver
Charge Nurse Manager, Tokoroa Hospital and community team
Tania Te Wano
Charge Nurse Manager, Te Kuiti Hospital and community team
Lynnette Jones
Charge Nurse Manager, Taumarunui Hospital and community team
Sue Van Dam
Charge Midwife Manager, Primary maternity services at Tokoroa and Taumarunui Hospital