Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand Waitaha/Canterbury district covers an area of the East Coast of the South Island from Kaikōura in the north, to Ashburton in the south, as well as the Rēkohu/Chatham Islands. It is responsible for the health of an estimated *594,320 people.
Roughly 80 percent of this population lives in the Greater Ōtautahi/Christchurch area, with the rest dispersed over a large geographical area. Waitaha/Canterbury is the second largest district in terms of population and area. It has the fastest-growing Māori population, and the sixth largest total Māori population. Around 10 percent of the district’s population is Asian, and this is its fastest-growing ethnic group. The district has the largest population aged over 75.
Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand owns and operates five major hospital facilities in Ōtautahi/Christchurch and Ashburton, and almost 30 smaller rural hospitals and community bases around the district.
On top of providing health services to its own population, Te Whatu Ora – Waitaha/Canterbury provides many specialised services to people referred from other Te Whatu Ora districts where these services are not available.
* Funded Waitaha/Canterbury population at September 2022.
Te Whatu Ora – Waitaha/Canterbury also provides many services for the population of the Te Tai o Poutini/West Coast. The two districts have several formal partnership agreements.
The District Director of Te Whatu Ora – Waitaha/Canterbury is also District Director of Te Tai o Poutini/West Coast. Several managers and members of the Leadership Team hold positions in both districts.
Page last updated: 3 April 2023
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