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

West Coast DHB announces high level Te Nīkau Grey Hospital and Health Centre timeframes

Friday 1 May 2020Facilities News2 minutes to read

Following recent discussions with the Ministry of Health, we will begin the 10-week operational readiness phase in preparation for the move to Te Nīkau Grey Hospital and Health Centre on Monday, 11 May 2020,” West Coast DHB’s Chief Executive David Meates says.

“The operational readiness phase is the period of time where we will be getting the facility ready.
This will include a thorough facility clean followed by equipment installation, stocking of consumables and clinical supplies as well as completing information technology infrastructure works.”

“To support our on-going planning and preparation, we will review our operational readiness progress on Monday, 25 May 2020. We will use this time to identify where we may need to allocate additional resources, for example, this might include contracting in additional support to assist in the installation of equipment.”

“The decision regarding our readiness to proceed to the migration phase which includes moving to the new facility will be made on Wednesday, 10 June 2020. At this time, we will be able to confirm the anticipated ‘go live’ date which is when the new facility will become operational and staff and patients will all have moved in,” Mr Meates says.

The operational readiness and migration timeframe is subject to change as it is dependent on factors such as our ongoing response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, the existing Grey Base Hospital will need to remain ready to respond to any local developments that may arise while we continue to operate under the current alert level system.

“This is an exciting time for the West Coast Health System and we are looking forward to preparing Te Nīkau Hospital and Health Centre for our West Coast community,” says Mr Meates.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 26 June 2020

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