The Wānaka district is the single largest population served by Dunstan hospital in Clyde, and the increasing number of Wānaka people who rely on the Hospital warrants the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s (QLDC) support.

That’s the argument behind a request for $1,500 funding through the QLDC’s annual plan process to cover annual transport and meeting costs.

Leigh Overton, the elected Wānaka representative on Central Otago Health Incoporated’s (COHInc) board told the councillors the majority of Wānaka residents requiring secondary health services are treated at Dunstan Hospital.

“Wānaka has had to fight for the Dunstan Hospital service,” he said, yet only the Central Otago District Council (CODC) contributes (almost $8,000 annually) towards the board’s operating costs.

“Wanaka needs to stand on its own and not be subsidised by Central Otago.” 

In recognition of the preponderance of Wānaka patients, the COHInc board, which comprises five elected members (four from Central Otago and one from Wānaka) as well as a single iwi member and a CODC member, has agreed to a second Wānaka representative.

Leigh said it is proposed that a member of Wānaka’s Community Board (WCB) join the board and, if the QLDC agreed to that, both Wānaka representatives would share transport costs.

He reasoned that, even though the QLDC has shown “no interest whatsoever in the past”, a WCB member would provide “a direct tie” between the hospital and the council.

“The QLDC needs more skin in the game.”

While a QLDC contribution to annual costs would be welcome, Leigh said his submission to the annual plan was also an awareness campaign as he believed many Queenstown councillors were unaware that Dunstan Hospital wasn’t fully-funded by central government.

“Unlike the Lakes District Hospital [at Frankton] which is fully funded by the DHB [Southern District Health Board], Dunstan Hospital is only funded 90 percent,” he said.

The Wānaka and Central Otago communities raise funds for the hospital’s assets, such as a CT scanner and expanded secondary services.

Dunstan Hospital has been operating in Central Otago since 1863 but during the 1990s the Otago District Health Board intended to close it. A compromise was reached to lease the hospital’s buildings to an operating company, and the hospital’s assets would be funded from the communities that Dunstan Hospital serves. 

COHInc was formed in the year 2000 to retain ownership and management of these assets. It also appoints directors to, and monitors the performance of, the community-owned, not-for-profit company Central Otago Health Services Ltd (COHSL) which is responsible for providing Dunstan Hospital’s secondary services.

The modern, purpose built Dunstan Hospital facility, extensively refurbished in 2005, features a 24 acute-bed inpatient ward (including a three bed High Dependency Unit) and after hours GP services but no emergency department.

COHSL employs more than 130 staff and contractors in a range of health disciplines and support services at Dunstan Hospital, who provide secondary health services, such as cardiology, oncology, chemotherapy, physiotherapy, x-rays and ultrasound, to around 25,000 people living in the wider Central Otago and Wānaka regions. 

PHOTO: Supplied