JOHN BISSET/Stuff
Checking out the new lounge at the Enliven Lorna Home for hospital level dementia care at The Croft Rest Home complex in Timaru are Presbyterian Support South Canterbury staff, from left, Kirsty Burnett, Mark Manit and Helen McLeod.
Residents from the soon to be closed Talbot Park care facility are being readied for a move to the new $2.2 million Enliven Lorna Home wing at The Croft Rest Home complex in Timaru. Work on the project started in late 2019 and was completed recently after being interrupted in 2020 by Covid-19. It was officially opened on Friday and blessed on Monday by Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua upoko (head) Tewera King and Presbyterian Support South Canterbury (PSSC) chaplain Reverend Alan Cummins.
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
Arowhenua Whanau Services practice nurse Jo Fortune gives her kaiwhakahaere (manager) Maria Parish (Ngāi Tahu) a Covid-19 vaccine on the first week of the roll-out to Māori, Pasifika and those over 65.
More than 5200 Covid-19 vaccinations have been administered in South Canterbury, according to latest figures released by the Ministry of Health. Nationally, 304,900 Pfizer injections have been delivered to date. As of May 5, there had been 3792 first doses and 1439 second doses administered in South Canterbury. That figure is 12 per cent below the planned target for the region, but South Canterbury District Health Board (SCDHB) Covid-19 vaccination programme operational lead Carol Murphy said there was an explanation for that.
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
Holding freshly baked goods at the Timaru Hospital cafeteria opening on Wednesday are, from left, Michelle Briggs, Katt Heney, Ranjna Devi, Brett McGregor and Tony Adam.
The doors to Timaru Hospital’s new cafeteria were opened to the public for the first time on Wednesday, signalling the start of “an extensive refurbishment of the hospital’’, its interim chief executive says. The cafeteria, part of the $3.4 million hospital building upgrade which started in June 2020, is on the ground floor, and will be available 24/7 to staff, and seven days a week for the public, South Canterbury District Health Board interim chief executive Jason Power said.
We can protect ourselves and our loved ones from this by sharing and resharing the reliable sources of information such as the IMAC (Immunisation Advisory Centre) website and Unite Against Covid-19 website. We need to encourage people to have questions and to seek answers through these reliable channels.” He said IMAC had been provided a local source of independent, factual information based on scientific research since 1997 and was honest about the benefits and risks of immunisations. “We had 17 cases of Covid-19 in South Canterbury and successfully worked together to stamp the virus out. I’m confident we can work together again against these deliberate attacks of misinformation.”
Te Raki said it will allow Māori to be a “little” in control of “our” destiny. “Some of these changes we have been waiting for, so it is good to take it by the horns and get on with it and address inequity for Māori.” Māori, on average, have the poorest health status of any ethnic group in the country, a government commissioned review of the entire health system in 2018 found. The review also put a spotlight on the stressed health system which was struggling to keep up with demand and was not delivering consistent services to everyone. The resultant NZ Public Health and Disability Act of 2020 has led to the latest reforms.