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‘Left High And Dry’: Ruapehu Mayor Demands Answers Over Delays To Rural Health Centre
A rural community is demanding answers and action from Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora over delays in building a long-promised rural health centre.
Ruapehu mayor Weston Kirton says his community is being stonewalled as inquiries about the planned Waimarino Wellness Centre in Raetihi go unanswered.
"One thing about rural New Zealand, it seems to be easy picking for the Government to put these things on hold," Kirton said.
"Our health statistics are far worse than our counterparts in other areas. There should be more respect for the great needs here. People expect to have basic health services."
Kirton is calling on Health NZ and the government to urgently prioritise the rebuild of the Seddon Street health facility in Raetihi, amid growing concern from the community and the Waimarino Wellness Centre steering group.
He said the steering group had been raising concerns over the lack of movement on the project, which was launched more than five years ago to deliver integrated health and social services for the region.
"We sent a joint letter to Health NZ and did not get a reply," Kirton told Local Democracy Reporting on Wednesday.
"It is unfortunate that communication between all involved parties has stalled, leading to tension and uncertainty within the community."
Kirton said there were fears that up to $5 million of promised funding for the centre might have been pulled.
"They've put it on pause. To what end? The community don't want it to be paused.
"The fear is that the reason we're in this situation is there's no longer any money tagged to it.
"Is that the reason they're not engaging with stakeholders? If it is, they need to come out and say so."
Kirton said the community understands the pressures facing Health NZ but it was critical that the rural health needs of the district remained a priority.
The existing health centre was "limping along" because the building was not fit for purpose.
"What the community needs is a purpose-built facility that caters for the needs of the community, which has been left high and dry," Kirton said.
"To stabilise and strengthen our health services is essential to the wellbeing of our communities - particularly following the economic and social disruption caused by the challenges faced by Ruapehu's employment sectors in recent years.
"The impact of not having access to integrated health and social services is well-documented. Issues such as unemployment, mental health distress and health inequities will only deepen if we do not act."
Waimarino Development Group co-chairperson Honey Winter said urgent action was required.
"Our communities are going through a very difficult period," Winter said.
"They are already under significant pressure with Waimarino being amongst the most deprived areas in New Zealand, with the highest possible decile 10 deprivation score.
"People are doing it tough, and delays to this project only make things harder," she said.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora deputy chief executive central region, Robyn Shearer, provided a statement in response to questions from Local Democracy Reporting.
"Health NZ acknowledges the time it has taken for stakeholders to finalise decisions on the Waimarino Integrated Health Centre project and is committed to an outcome being reached as soon as possible.
"Health NZ will be meeting with the partners and the leadership of the project soon to understand everyone's current expectations and agree on a way forward."
Shearer did not respond to questions about whether up to $2m in promised phase one funding and $3m in phase two funding was still tagged to the build.
Kirton said the response was unsatisfactory.
"They're kicking the can down the road.
"Whether it's the minister, whether it's Health NZ, or whether it's people lower down in the pecking order, we need answers."
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
Local Democracy Reporting
Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.
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