Taupō Hospital outpatients extension opened

04/09/2023

Eight new clinic rooms have been officially opened at Taupō Hospital, extending the number of outpatients’ appointments the hospital can now offer by almost double.

The clinic rooms are in a former administration block in the main hospital building.

The administration wing has relocated to two houses (formerly The Sanctuary and House 2).

Cutting the ribbon to the new wing was former nurse of 40 years Sandra Foss, who is now a member of the Taupō Hospital and Health Society.

The wing was blessed by Benoir Midwood-Murray with Taupō Hospital Chaplain Jacqui Leyden.

“It’s really exciting,” said Taupō Hospital Associate Clinical Nurse Manager Cilla McClay.

“As well as the extra appointments for our patients it’s been welcomed by visiting staff.

“This move has also created hot desk areas plus a dedicated zoom/meeting room. Whenever we’ve had visiting specialists before we’ve struggled to find them room for them to do some work.

“This is future-proofing our admin spaces and new roles coming to the hospital.”

The maximum clinic capacity of Taupō Hospital prior to these rooms was 50 clinics a week, with these eight new rooms that will increase to a maximum of 90 clinics a week, or 4680 a year compared to 2600.

The first clinics in the new space have already started.

New visiting specialties to Taupō include respiratory, neurology and haematology with urology also planned.

Taupō Hospital services the wider Taupō district, which extends to Tūrangi at the southern end of Lake Taupō. Patients travelling from Tūrangi to Rotorua Hospital for outpatient appointments were estimated to be spending around $150 on petrol alone.