A new after hours urgent care service will be available in Wānaka for 12 months starting in September.

Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti said a nurse-led service would be available from 11pm-8am, seven days a week, in a collaboration between Health New Zealand and Central Otago Health Services Ltd.

“I understand this is something your community has been asking for for some time,” he said.

The minister made the announcement while visiting the Upper Clutha earlier today (Thursday June 27) alongside prime minister Christopher Luxon for the naming of the Wānaka birthing unit.

The birthing unit, which will support around 50 births and 400 families each year, will open for pregnant women and families from July 29.

The long-awaited birthing unit includes a birthing room with an ensuite and birthing pool, four post-natal rooms with ensuites, an antenatal clinic, a community room and a whānau room.

It has been named Rākai Kahukura, gifted by iwi and inspired by the process and thoughts surrounding birthing with ‘rākai’ means to adorn, and ‘Kahukura’ a type of cloak.

“I know this is a facility that will have incredible staff who work here and make a real difference to local families for a really important time in their personal lives, who can otherwise face quite long drives to unsuitable facilities…” the PM said.

“...To have one closer to home is pretty special.”

The minister said the birthing unit would support low-risk, non-instrumental births, options for post-natal stays closer to home, as well as access to early childhood services for 0-5 year olds.

Services “are expected to include Well Child checks and childhood immunisations,” he said.

The PM thanked everyone involved in the creation of the birthing unit for “all the hard work and effort that’s gone into bringing this birthing centre to life”. 

The visit included another announcement for maternity services - additional funding for a Clyde birthing unit. 

The minister said the Clyde birthing unit, built on the Dunstan Hospital site, should be operational by early 2026.

More details of the Wānaka after hours service will be shared in due course, he said. 

At a meeting on health services in March Te Whatu Ora Southern group director of operations Hamish Brown had committed to putting after hours care in place by winter.

The minister’s announcement of a September opening means Upper Clutha residents will now have to wait until spring.

Community-led advocacy group Health Action Wānaka said it was encouraged by the announcement of the urgent care after hours service but noted that it was a ‘stop gap’; the group will continue to advocate for a “sustainable after-hours service, such as a publicly funded emergency department,” it said.

Wānaka’s primary birthing unit has also been a long time coming.

Te Whatu Ora - then the Southern District Health Board - purchased a six-bedroom lodge in Albert Town in June 2022 with plans to quickly convert it into a birthing unit for Wānaka families. 

At the time the lodge was purchased, an opening date of July 2023 was anticipated, but delays associated with the shift from the Southern District Health Board to Te Whatu Ora pushed the opening back by a year.

PHOTO: Wānaka App