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

Whānau House (Whakaruruhau)
Department: Māori Health

Near health facility accommodation for Patients’ whānau

Patients’ whānau (family) may be able to stay at Whānau House (Whakaruruhau) at Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre.

We give priority to whānau of patients who are terminally ill or in the critical care unit. Eligibility is on a first come, first served basis and is at the discretion of Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre management. Whānau can stay for up to three nights, and this may be extended if needed.

The Social Work Department will support whānau during their stay in Whānau House when requested. Social workers can also help with applications for travel and accommodation costs. Families should request the name of a social worker from the patient’s ward staff.

Whānau House Booklet [PDF, 196 KB]

Find us

Whānau House is just to the south of the Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre facility, near the corporate office.

Limited parking is available near the building.

The house has one bedroom with two single beds, two couch beds and four mattresses. All bedding, sheets, towels and tea towels are supplied and washed. Whānau only need to buy their food, wash their clothes and keep the house clean and tidy.

Whānau House is fully equipped, with its own kitchen, laundry, two bathrooms, dining area and a shared living area with television, and has a landline. It is also accessible by wheelchair.

 $20 per night for each adult 15 years and older.

  • Children 14 years and younger stay free.
  • $10 key deposit. This will be refunded when you return the key.

You may be able to get Ministry of Health funding to help pay for accommodation.

Payment must be made before you leave Whānau House. If you will have difficulty paying this, please contact the Social Work Department. We will try to assist if possible.

To book, print out this form, fill it in, and send it to us.

Accommodation request form

Check in is from 3pm onwards. You can pay your refundable deposit and collect your key from the facility’s reception desk.

Additional linen is in the white cupboard in the laundry or in the storage cupboard between bathroom and bedroom.

Mattresses and pillows are in the storage cupboard between the bathroom and bedroom.

The ironing board is in the hot water cupboard between the two bathrooms.

Laundry racks are between the washing machine and tub.

Please lock Whānau House when you are not in it. The staff at Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre are not responsible for any items that go missing.

Facility security will check around the outside of Whānau House at night for your safety.

Please keep a list of everyone who is staying with you and take it with you if there is an emergency.

For personal or medical emergencies, dial 777 on the house phone for immediate help from the facility’s telephone operator.

In an earthquake, take shelter as you would in your own home in doorways and under tables.

If there is a fire in the house, break the glass and activate the alarm in the kitchen or laundry. If it is safe to do so, dial 777 and tell the operator what is happening. Leave the house immediately and shut doors and windows if you can.

The assembly area for any evacuation is in the car park outside the corporate office building. Do not re-enter the building until a Fire & Emergency or West Coast DHB official tells you it is OK.

You can pay with cash, cheque or EFTPOS during normal business hours at the corporate office (the building beside Whānau House).

If you want to pay after hours, you can do this at the Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre reception admitting office. Only cash and cheque are accepted here.

Please check out before 11 am to allow us time to clean the facility for the next occupants.

Please check you have done the following:

  • Leave Whānau House tidy. Cleaning materials are in the laundry cabinet.
  • Strip all lined off the beds and place in the linen bag in the bathroom.
  • Return mattresses to the cupboard.
  • Wipe the inside of the microwave and oven if you have used them.
  • Empty the rubbish bins into the large bin outside the kitchen door. Please leave the inside bins clean and dry.
  • If anything in Whānau House is damaged or missing, please let the admitting office know when you return your key.

If you forget to return the key before leaving, please post it to

  • Admitting Office
    Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre
    PO Box 387
    Greymouth 7840

We will send you your $10 deposit refund.

You can use the Whānau House phone to call inside the Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre facility or make local calls.

Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre phone operator: 0

Local calls: Dial 1 followed by the phone number

If you want to contact someone in Whānau House from an outside phone, call Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital & Health Centre on 03 769 7400 and dial extension 2867.

Page last updated: 29 July 2020

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