HOSPITAL VISITING

All hospital visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask. For more information about visiting: Visitors and family. See our COVID-19 page for general COVID-19 advice, detailed hospital visiting guidelines and COVID-19 tests.

See West Coast COVID-19 vaccination clinics for info on vaccinations link COVID-19 Vaccination • West Coast • Healthpoint

Last updated:
16 September 2022

Fewer visitor restrictions now apply

For visitors to all facilities (effective from and last updated on 16 September 2022)

Some visitor restrictions for all Te Whatu Ora Te Tai o Poutini West Coast health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and so people must continue to wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and other visitors safe.

Kia whakahaumaru te whānau, me ngā iwi katoa – this is to keep everybody safe:

  • Visitors or support people must not visit our facilities if they are unwell. Do not visit if you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and haven’t completed your isolation period.
  • Patients in single rooms may have more than one visitor while patients in multi-bed rooms can have one visitor only per patient to ensure there is no overcrowding.
  • People can have one or two support people to accompany them to outpatients appointments.
  • Women in labour in a birthing suite, in Te Nīkau Hospital’s Maternity Ward and in Buller’s Kawatiri Maternity Unit can have the usual support people, subject to space, for the duration of their stay in our facilities.
  • Eating or drinking at the bedside is at the discretion of the Clinical Nurse Manager. Visitors must not eat or drink in multibed rooms because of the increased risk when multiple people remove their mask in the same space.
  • Hand sanitiser is available and must be used.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as our staff work hard to protect and care for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Mask wearing

  • Surgical/medical masks must be worn at all sites, except in counselling, mental health and addiction services where it’s on a case-by-case agreement with patients. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one. In higher-risk environments, people, including young children, may not be able to visit if they cannot wear a mask.
  • Any member of the public with a mask exemption is welcome in all our facilities when attending to receive health care and *treatment. Please show your mask exemption card and appointment letter to staff at the entrance. *Treatment includes coming into the Emergency Department, outpatient appointments, surgery or a procedure.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People are able to visit patients who have COVID-19 but they must wear an N95 mask – this will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Other methods of communication will be facilitated e.g. phone, Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp etc where visits aren’t possible.

You must NOT visit our facilities if you

  • are COVID-19 positive
  • are unwell. Please stay home if you have a tummy bug or cold or flu/COVID-19-like symptoms (even if you’ve tested negative for COVID-19).

Te Whatu Ora West Coast Aged Residential Care facilities

Visitors are welcome at our Aged Care Residential facilities, subject to the space available. All visitors must wear a surgical mask.

More COVID-19 information

Māori health – health services
Division: Māori HealthPoutini WaioraWest Coast DHB

  1. Home
  2. Health services directory
  3. Māori Health
  4. Māori health – health services

The main Māori health provider in Te Tai o Poutini is Poutini Waiora.

Poutini Waiora is mainly a mobile service with kaimahi visiting whānau in their homes or other appropriate settings across the West Coast. It provides professional Māori cultural services including:

  • Whānau ora registered nurses
  • Social services
  • Kaiarataki health promotion and community support
  • Well Child Tamariki Ora checks
  • Advice and education for mothers and whānau
  • Visits from kaumātua
  • School attendance officer
  • Counselling
  • Alcohol and other drugs counselling
  • Anger management and domestic violence

Contacts

Poutini Waiora website

Free call 0800 333 170
 enquiries@poutiniwaiora.co.nz

Hokitika (Main Office)

03 755 6578
 17 Sewell St, Hokitika
 PO Box 271, Hokitika 7842

Greymouth (Mawhera Office)

 62 Shakespeare Street, Greymouth 7805

Westport (Kawatiri Office)

03 789 7548
The Denniston Room, Buller Health, Pakington Street, Westport

You can find information to help you make decisions about smoking on the Oranga Hā website.

Register online

0800 456 121

It costs extra to go to a health clinic if you aren’t enrolled. Signing up will give you better, faster, cheaper access to health care when you need it, and means you will have a team that knows who you are.

Sign up before you need help.

Poutini Waiora can help you enrol with a local clinic, or you can contact Te Tai o Poutini Primary Health Organisation for more information.

The Complex Clinical Care Network has a Māori Clinical Needs Assessor who can help choose the right care for you or an older family member.

Well Child Tamariki Ora is a programme offering free checks for babies and children under 5. All tamariki should have the B4 School Check before they turn 5.

027 681 3112
catherine.crichton@westcoastdhb.health.nz
facebook.com/WestCoastB4SC
PO Box 248, Westport

Whare Whakaruru provides short term Marae-style accommodation to support whānau of patients at Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre.

Marae-style accommodation means in some instances people will be asked if they are prepared to share with others.

The whānau facility is run on Tikanga Māori practices that must be upheld. The Māori Health team are available at all times to support whānau should the need arise.

Find out more about Whānau House

Use of Whānau (Family) Facility – Policy Document [PDF, 133 KB] 

Whānau House Booklet [PDF, 196 KB]

Tell the Admitting Officer at Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre reception that you have a need for the facility. The Admitting Officer can make a request for accommodation to the Social Work Department. They will need to know the name of the patient, which ward they are staying in, how many support people they have, and the arrival time.

Visit ‘About Hauora Māori’ in our About us section for more information, including training, support agencies, Māori Health strategy, Tikanga best practice guidelines, and Māori Health publications. 

Page last updated: 12 July 2022

Is this page useful?