West Coast District Health Board (Westcoast DHB)
Most district health boards in New Zealand are not involved significantly in primary care. As with so much else, however, the Coast’s unique situation has required an unusual solution.
The DHB has stepped in to acquire general practices to ensure that a community receives good access to primary care and is now the major owner of general practices on the West Coast. Health professionals working in primary care are employed under multi employer collective agreements, and all practices belong to the high-performing West Coast Primary Health Organisation.
The DHB’s ownership of primary care services has allowed it to begin to develop true interdisciplinary teams in primary care and to integrate traditional general practice services with community services and, in some cases, inpatient care.
Right now the West Coast DHB is collaborating with the Ministry of Health to develop a standard for models of care in New Zealand rural areas and funding to enable the West Coast DHB to provide this. The project also incorporates new facilities in most locations from which services are provided on the Coast.
Grey Base Hospital – The location of Greymouth is south of Westport and north of Hokitika. Grey Base Hospital is located in the Southern District of Greymouth, in front of Greymouth Airport.
Service provided at Grey Base Hospital:
A & E (Emergency Department)
Children’s Ward
Clinics (Family Planning & Sexual Health)
Day-Surgery
Laboratory
Nursing and Midwifery
Surgery
Lifestyle
For New Zealanders the West Coast – Te Tai Poutini – holds a special place in the heart. It’s the place where you’ll still find the rugged individual and open and friendly communities that our national literature celebrates, home to the twin treasures of Pounamu and Gold, to New Zealand’s treasure trove of conservation values and staggering landscapes, and New Zealand’s true adventure and outdoor capital.
There is nowhere quite like the West Coast of the South Island – it really is a natural wonderland. From spectacular scenery and outdoor opportunities to strong community spirit and an uncluttered, stress-free way of life – it simply is the best place to live and enjoy life.
Bounded by Kahurangi National Park to the north and Mount Aspiring National Park to the south, the region lies in a narrow band between the magnificent Southern Alps and Tasman Sea.
The West Coast is renowned for its natural beauty and dramatic landscape. Five national parks, pristine rivers, glaciers, snow-capped mountains and the space to enjoy it. There really is nowhere else quite like it and it’s all yours to enjoy in a temperate climate and uncluttered environment.
Stretched out along a thin strip of flat land between the mighty Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea, the West Coast is New Zealand’s most sparsely populated, isolated and most rural district, creating special challenges for the provision of health services.