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

Temporary changes to Lake Brunner Clinic hours starting from today

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Friday 18 March 2022Health news2 minutes to read

From today, West Coast DHB is making some temporary changes to Lake Brunner Clinic’s opening hours.

“These changes in opening hours are due to a Rural Nurse Specialist shortage in Moana which has coincided with the national COVID-19 health response, says Philip Wheble, West Coast DHB’s General Manager.

“This is not a permanent reduction in service provision, it just means that we need to adjust how we provide our services over the coming weeks. Health care will continue to be available to the wider Moana community.”

Normal services (including on-call for emergencies and PRIME callouts) will be available every second week starting from 1pm on Friday, 25 March. The Monday nurse drop-in clinics will be held on a fortnightly basis between 9am – 1pm except on public holidays from Monday 28 March,

For the week starting Friday, 18 March (and every subsequent fortnight) the following hours will apply:

  • Doctor clinics: Tuesdays (start times vary from 9am to 1.30pm, depending on which doctor is on duty and what their other commitments are). GP consultations are by appointment only.
  • Nurse drop-in clinics: Tuesdays only in conjunction with the GP clinics.
  • Urgent care: Please present to the unplanned clinic at Te Nīkau Hospital & Health Centre for any urgent medical care.
  • If it’s an emergency, please dial 111.
  • District Nursing: District Nursing services will be supported by the Greymouth District Nursing team – 03 769 7721.
  • For appointments, enquiries, prescriptions or results please phone 03 738 0003 and leave a message or ring our colleagues at Te Nīkau Health Centre on 03 769 7400. If you do leave a message please ensure you state your name, DOB and contact number.

“Over the next 6-12 weeks, there may be occasions that a PRIME nurse cannot be in attendance during emergency call-outs. The wider Moana community can be reassured that we are working with our partnership agencies St Johns and FENZ to ensure that if this was to occur it would not impact on any medical emergencies.

We apologise in advance for any inconvenience that this situation may cause and would like to thank the community for their patience and support during this time,” says Mr Wheble.

ENDS

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Page last updated: 18 March 2022

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