Health NZ - Whanganui

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Health NZ - Whanganui

Health New Zealand - Whanganui

Whanganui Hospital

Health NZ - Whanganui funds and provides a range of health and disability services to the population in which it serves living in the Whanganui and Rangitikei Territorial Authority areas, as well as the Ruapehu Territorial Authority area wards of Waimarino and Waiouru – known as South Ruapehu.

25/12/2025

Our Emergency Department (ED) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

An emergency is life-threatening or organ-threatening situations that may include:

• active bleeding
• acute chest pain
• difficulty breathing;
• stroke
• choking
• loss of consciousness
• clearly broken or dislocated bones

23/12/2025

We wish you all a safe and cheerful seasons holiday.

Our Emergency Department will be open 24/7 throughout the holidays.

Our social media team will be taking a break from now into the new year. Use our pinned posts for information on where to go if you need health care advice over the break.

Happy holiday season to you all. We look forward to seeing you in 2026.

21/12/2025

Tēnā koutou katoa,

As we come to the close of another year, I want to extend my sincere thanks to everyone across Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Whanganui and our wider community.

To our staff, your commitment, compassion, and resilience continue to shape the care we provide every day. This year has brought its share of challenges and change, yet you’ve met each moment with professionalism and a spirit of collaboration that makes me incredibly proud. Whether you work on the front line or behind the scenes, your contribution matters deeply, and I hope you find time to rest and reconnect with the people who matter most to you.

To our community, thank you for the trust you place in us. Your support strengthens the work we do, and your kindness toward our teams does not go unnoticed. Whanganui is a special place, and we are grateful to serve you.

As we look toward the new year, I’m optimistic about what we can continue to build together: safer care, stronger services, and a hospital environment where both staff and patients feel valued.

Ngā manaakitanga o te wā. Meri Kirihimete ki a koutou katoa.
Season’s greetings. Merry Christmas to you all.

Kath Fraser-Chapple
Group Director of Operations
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Whanganui

18/12/2025

Let's welcome Antonia to our hospital!

When Antonia began exploring a new career back in 2010, she had no idea that journey would eventually bring her from the American Midwest all the way to the Whanganui River.

At the time she was a single mother of three, looking for a direction that felt meaningful. Speech-Language Therapy (SLT) found her in an unexpected way, first through her nephew’s autism diagnosis, then through her grandmother’s stroke. Seeing the difference SLT made across generations sparked something that stayed with her.

She went on to train in Indiana and build a diverse career in Wisconsin, supporting children with profound disabilities, older adults in aged care, and everyone in between. Over the years she formed two guiding principles that shape her work to this day: communication is a human right, and every patient deserves to be loved.
Life grew and shifted, and soon she and her husband were imagining a different pace for their family, a place where their children could grow up close to nature and surrounded by community. New Zealand stood out immediately. When a role at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora in Whanganui was offered, the decision felt surprisingly natural.

To Antonia, Whanganui felt familiar from the start. It reminded her of Sheboygan, the riverside city she left behind in Wisconsin, warm, welcoming, and grounded in connection. “I couldn’t have dreamed of a more ideal situation,” she says.

We’re incredibly pleased to welcome Antonia to our hospital and our region. Her experience, compassion, and global perspective are already adding strength to our team and to the community we serve.

Her journey is a reminder of what makes our hospital special, the kind of place people travel halfway across the world to call home.

17/12/2025

When the marks don’t show .

Mia (not her real name) didn’t see any bruises in the mirror the next morning. That was the part that confused her. Her throat ached. Her voice felt wrong. Her thoughts were slow, as though they were wading through mud. But her skin? Untouched.

Later, she would learn that what happened to her has a name: Non-Fatal Strangulation and Suffocation. A violent act that cuts off oxygen and blood flow to the brain, often without leaving a single visible mark.

Most people expect bruising. Most people miss the internal injuries when the external injuries aren’t there.

What happened to Mia is far more common than most realise. Last year, in Whanganui alone, 212 people came to our hospital because of intimate partner or interfamilial violence. In 64 of those cases, strangulation or suffocation was involved. Nationally, most family violence is never reported at all - around 67% goes unreported.

Only 33% of family violence is reported.

Mia didn’t report it to Police. Many don’t. But she did go to ED. That choice mattered.

A clinician checked her breathing, her voice, her neurological signs. She learned that a loss of consciousness, or even bladder or bowel control, can be a sign of how close to death someone has come. She learned that concussion, confusion, and even stroke can follow in the hours or days after. And she learned she wasn’t alone.

Before she left the hospital, staff told her something important: There’s a specialist Post Non-Fatal Strangulation and Suffocation assessment, offered around 10 days after the event - only Police can make the referral, and only with consent. No statement required. No pressure. Just another layer of care if she wanted it.

Mia also learned she didn’t have to explain anything to her workplace if she needed time. Every New Zealander has a legal right to up to 10 days of domestic violence leave. There are national helplines ready to guide people through this, gently and confidentially.

Maybe someone reading this has lived through something like Mia. Maybe there were no marks. Maybe there was fear. Maybe there was silence.

You are allowed to seek help. You deserve medical care. You deserve safety.

• If you’re in danger, call 111.
• If you arrive at ED and say you’re not safe, we will help you.
• 24/7 help is also available: Phone 0508 SHINE or 0800 733 843 (Women’s Refuge).

16/12/2025

At Stanford House, tikanga Māori isn’t an add-on, it’s part of how we welcome, heal, and belong. And one of the biggest champions of that kaupapa is Leroy Matthews.

Leroy, our Te Taura Whiri Māori Coordinator, was recently recognised with the Tikanga Māori Award - Dedication to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. His work isn’t about a single moment, but the steady, everyday mahi that helps tangata whai ora and staff feel confident, connected, and proud of who they are.

From Friday Pae Matua sessions on pōwhiri, pepeha, waiata and whakapapa, through to warm mihi whakatau for visitors, Leroy creates spaces where people feel safe to learn, speak, and celebrate their identity. You can see the difference, tangata whai ora who once stayed quiet now introduce themselves with pride.

Leroy leads with kindness, humour, and a passion for kōrero Māori. He encourages people to try, laugh, make mistakes, and keep going. As he says, “Enjoy the learning. Laugh with people, not at people. Waiata your lungs out - even if you’re out of tune!”

We’re incredibly proud of Leroy and grateful for the aroha he brings to Stanford House every single day. He’s a taonga to our team and our community.

Thank you for your mahi Leroy!

15/12/2025

When disaster strikes after hours, every minute counts. At Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) in Whanganui, the education centre on campus, Te Whare Toi, became a live training ground as hospital teams and community partners ran 'Exercise Crowded Places: Part One.

This exercise involved testing triage, communication and coordination in a simulated mass-casualty event.

Thank you to everyone involved, your preparation strengthens our whole community.

11/12/2025

The joy of the holiday season is alive and sparkling in the hallways, wards and back offices of Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora in Whanganui.

10/12/2025

Our Sexual Health Clinic will be closed over the holiday season.

The last clinic for 2025 will be on Thursday 18 December.

We will reopen in the new year on Thursday 8 January 2026.

09/12/2025

Celebrating one year of BadgerNet at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora in Whanganui

It’s been just over a year since Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora in Whanganui took the leap into the world of BadgerNet. Our Maternity team embraced this digital system designed for maternity and neonatal use that is now rolling out across Aotearoa. What began as a major digital shift has quietly embedded itself into everyday life on the ward. It is helping clinicians stay connected and giving māmā, pēpi and whānau a smoother, safer journey through pregnancy and birth.

BadgerNet lets clinicians update and access pregnancy records in real time. This allows the right information to be in the right hands at the right moment, whether care is happening in hospital, out in the community with LMC midwives, or through local GPs. That seamless flow has been a game-changer for people moving between services, or transferring to other districts for higher-level care.

Whanganui jumped onboard in October 2024, becoming the eleventh district to adopt the platform, completing the rollout across the Central | Te Ikaroa region. It took a village to make it happen: more than 90% of staff were trained before Go-Live day, with round-the-clock support during those first nerve-wracking weeks. Waimarino Health Centre had a soft launch to make sure rural services were supported just as strongly.

Since then, the district has added CTG integration, and work is underway to connect BadgerNet with Health New Zealand’s DataMart, another step towards stronger national maternity insights.

To mark this milestone, staff came together in the Maternity ward to celebrate a full year of progress, teamwork, and problem-solving. Of course, no birthday is complete without cake, especially one crafted by Jo Jory from the Data and Digital team, whose creation stole the show.

Pictured from left: Emily Gorham (Senior House Officer), Megan Thurlow (Obstetrics and Gynaecology Registrar), Jax Cullen (Core midwife), Averil Wallace (Clinical Midwife Specialist – BadgerNet), Lucy Pettit (District Chief Midwife), Angelique Tucker (Midwife Manager), Angela Gower (Health Care Assistant /Newborn Hearing Screener)

09/12/2025

R**e and sexual violence can have devastating consequences for survivors.

It is important that survivors know who to connect with to receive the help and support they need, when they need it.

Survivors can report an assault as soon as it has happened by calling police on 111 and telling the person who answers the phone, you want to report a r**e or sexual assault. They will arrange an appointment for you to come into the station or arrange for an officer to come to your home.

You can phone your local police station - or go into your closest station and ask to speak to an officer in private.

You can report a r**e or sexual assault, days, weeks or years after it has happened. To report a historical r**e, contact your local police station by phone or walk-in, to report the crime.

Free help is available and 100% confidential. Online support for survivors includes www.safetotalk.nz

You can also call them on 0800 044 334 or text 4334, to speak with a trained specialist at any time of the day or night, seven days a week.

R**e or sexual assault is not your fault. Please reach out if you or a member of your whānau is a survivor who needs support.

Don’t believe the hype. Help IS available.

07/12/2025

🚨 Measles Update 07 Dec - Locations of Interest Identified

While there have been no new cases reported over the weekend, Health New Zealand is concerned about a number of locations of interest where people may have been exposed to measles and could now be infectious.

If you were present at any of the following places on the dates and times listed, you must call Healthline on 0800 611 116 urgently. You may be at risk of developing measles and spreading it to others:
➡️ BP Connect Richmond, Queen Street, Nelson: 16 November, 1:15PM – 2:15PM
➡️ Eagle Bar, Karangahape Road, Auckland: 29 November, 12:00AM – 2:30AM
➡️ Eagle Bar, Karangahape Road, Auckland: 30 November, 1:45AM – 3:55AM
➡️ G.A.Y Club, Karangahape Road, Auckland: 29 November, 1:15AM – 2:45AM
➡️ G.A.Y Club, Karangahape Road, Auckland: 30 November, 2:45AM – 4:25AM

If you were at these locations, attendees could now be infectious. Please stay at home and avoid contact with others until you’ve phoned Healthline and received advice.

📍 Locations of interest: https://info.health.nz/health-topics/conditions-treatments/infectious-diseases/measles/locations-of-interest

📲 If you develop symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, sore eyes, or a rash, call Healthline 0800 611 116 immediately. Do not attend work, school, or social events.

Address

100 Heads Road
Whanganui
4540

Website

http://www.wdhb.org.nz/

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