Art auction for Tauranga and Whakatane hospitals

Art auction for Tauranga and Whakatane hospitals

The concrete walls of a yet-to-be completed building at Tauranga Hospital will provide a stark backdrop for an art auction and gala function tonight (March 15).

The gala event has been organised by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board to celebrate progress being made on the construction of Tauranga’s new hospital.

The evening will also include an auction, organised by a community group, Art in Hospitals, to raise money for art in the DHB’s hospitals in Tauranga and Whakatane.

Guests at the March 15 function - including prime minister Helen Clark - will be able to bid on 18 paintings donated by Bay of Plenty artists, including Hayley Brown, Kate Jones Madill, Bryce Brown, Paula Knight and Jane Wilson. Work by two emerging Maori artists will also feature.

Around 350 people are expected to gather in the Specialist Health Services for Older People building, which is part of the new north wing ward block at Tauranga Hospital.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board chair Mary Hackett says the building, which is still under construction, will provide a dramatic setting for the works of art on display and will provide a unique atmosphere for guests attending the function.

She says the DHB is hoping that guests will support its vision for art in its hospitals by purchasing original works by local artists. Guests will also be able to make donations towards the purchase of art for Tauranga and Whakatane hospitals.

Mrs Hackett says the placement of art in a hospital increases the wellbeing of patients, provides pleasant surroundings for the public and creates an uplifting work environment for hospital staff.

“There is good evidence to suggest that environment is good for a patient’s wellbeing and recovery and we want to create that kind of environment in our new facilities,” she says. “Original art will also help create a pleasant environment for staff.”

Departments begin moving into the new podium and north wing ward block mid this year.

First to open will be the seven new operating theatres, which will be commissioned from mid-May and will be fully operational by the end of June. The remainder of the perioperative department – the central sterile unit, theatre support and the surgical admission, or day stay unit – will move at the same time.

Allied health, outpatients and the medical, paediatric and orthopaedic wards will transfer into the new buildings over the remainder of the year and there will be further departments moving throughout 2008.

Planning is well underway for the upgrade of the existing west wing ward blocks. Finishing work is well underway inside the new outpatients and allied health departments on the ground floor of the podium.

ENDS

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