VISITING HOSPITAL

All hospital visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask. Expand this message for information about visiting hospital. 

Last updated:
31 October 2024

Some visitor restrictions for all Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury hospitals and health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and we encourage all people wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and visitors safe.

To keep everybody safe:

  • Visitors or support people are advised to not visit our facilities if they are unwell. We advise that you do not visit if you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and haven’t completed your isolation period.
  • Patients may have more than one visitor, except in some situations such as multi-bed rooms where it can cause overcrowding.
  • Surgical/medical masks are encouraged to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Please practice hand hygiene with provided alcohol-based hand rub/gel

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.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People can visit patients who have COVID-19 but they must wear a surgical mask as a minimum – please use surgical masks provided.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours.

All visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers can be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where visitor restrictions might apply.

Patients and visitors can also read the additional COVID-19 related visiting guidelines .

Our leadership team

Regional Integration Team Te Waipounamu

You can also find out about our national leadership team on the Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora national website.

 

The Regional Wayfinder role is responsible for providing rangatiratanga leadership to multiple locally-based Commissioning teams across the relevant region in order to ensure that locality teams are able to support their local communities and whānau in the pursuit of Pae Ora.

Chiquita has held a variety of nursing leadership roles and has been Chief Executive of the MidCentral district’s Primary Health Organisation, THINK Hauora since 2013. Chiquita is passionate about whanau and community led solutions and has strongly advocated a pro-equity approach to health service delivery.

Chiquita Hansen

Vince commenced his career in Mental health and is a Registered Mental Health Nurse.  After leaving Clinical Practice Vince worked in Service Management and General Management roles across a number of areas including Mental Health, Aged Care and Elective services in Canterbury.

In 2008 he left the Hospital and Specialist Services to take up the CEO role at Pegasus Health, a Primary Care network in Canterbury. He worked in that role for 13 years before taking a secondment onto the leadership team for the Covid vaccination programme roll out and subsequently led the bringing together of various elements of the Covid response into the Outbreak team which is now part of the NPHS Protection Directorate.

Vince has had a number of highlights in his career to date and counts among them his time on the Covid vaccination programme, CEO of Pegasus Health and the establishment of Whakarongorau, along with establishment of the Canterbury Forensic Psychiatric services. Working across a number of emergencies in Canterbury including earthquake response and the Mosque shootings, Vince has had the privilege of working with many committed and passionate people. He very much enjoying the building of the new regional team in public health and looks forward to the maturing of the regional integration team.

Biography coming soon.

 

As part of the Digital Services group, the role of Regional Group Manager Integration & Delivery supports the Te Waipounamu region by working with Hospital & Specialist Services Regional Directors, Commissioning Wayfinders, Hauora Māori and Pacific partners, and others to identify and obtain digital services. This includes aligning demand and delivery via new projects and application management, and acting as a regional escalation point for Digital operational and service performance issues.

As a Digital IT professional of more than 30 years, Kirsty has extensive experience across strategy, change and delivery, and is a driver for digital transformation that makes a difference. Previously holding CIO and Programme delivery roles in local government, she moved to Nelson and the world of Health IT about 8 years ago. Prior to her current role as RGM Integration & Delivery, she was the regional IT lead and CIO at Nelson Marlborough DHB.

Kirsty Martin

Prior to becoming Executive Director, Planning, Funding and Decision Support, Greg was General Manager, Specialist Mental Health Services, responsible for the provision of specialist mental health services in Waitaha/Canterbury. Greg worked in Canterbury DHB’s Planning and Funding team for 12 years, and has worked in Community and Public Health since 2004. Greg gained a PhD in Population Health and worked in a range of research/academic roles in Western Australia and New Zealand. He started in this role in September 2023.

Greg Hamilton

Biography coming soon.

Rob Ojala leads the facilities redevelopment for Canterbury and West Coast districts. Rob is an Emergency Physician by training and has worked in Canterbury for the past 20 years following completion of his specialist training in Melbourne. He has been clinical lead for facilities redevelopment for Canterbury district for 10 years prior to his current role. During this time he has overseen the delivery of the Burwood Hospital redevelopment and extensive change on the Christchurch Hospital campus with a new Outpatients Building being constructed, and Waipapa the acute services facility. During 2022 his focus is on the redevelopment of the remainder of Christchurch Hospital, redevelopments and new facilities for specialist mental health services on the Hillmorton campus along with a number of other facilities projects.

Rob also continues his clinical practice as an Emergency Physician at Christchurch Hospital’s Emergency Department.

Dr Rob Ojala

District Leadership Team

 

As General Manager Nathan is responsible for managing the operations and delivery of clinical services on Christchurch Campus.

Nathan brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with a career spanning 20 + years in health. Originally a Registered Comprehensive Nurse, Nathan has held a number of clinical and operational leadership roles most recently Director of Nursing – Older Persons Health & Rehabilitation and Operational General Manager at Burwood Hospital.

Nathan Hood

Biography coming soon.

Becky works closely with the Directors of Nursing and other nursing leaders across the Canterbury health system. As EDON she holds several portfolios including Care Capacity Demand Management, Infection Prevention & Control Nursing, Nursing Workforce Development, and Corporate Quality and Patient Safety teams. Becky is also the Canterbury Executive Lead for Manawa Governance which includes simulation, research and education as well as for Te Papa Hauora (Health Precinct) Advisory Council.

Becky is a Registered Comprehensive Nurse and has worked in nursing since 1982, completing both a Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership and Management as well as a Masters in Health Science. She has previously been a Nurse Manager for Workforce Development, working with the EDON and Directors of Nursing for the past 15 years. Becky is a member of Nurse Executives of New Zealand, and the College of Nurses Aotearoa.

Becky Hickmott

Richard is an Anaesthetist by training and has occupied Clinical Leadership Roles for 10 years. He is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, and completed most of his Anaesthesia training in New Zealand.

The job of the Chief Medical Officer is to work alongside clinical and non-clinical colleagues to ensure that clinical care is safe and of a high quality. This work can range from responding to immediate serious incidents, such as mass casualty events, through to planning for health care in twenty years’ time, by advising on hospital design.

Richard French

Rob is a registered Medical Laboratory Scientist with over 26 years’ experience in the industry, having held senior leadership roles during this time. Rob is responsible for managing the operations of the pathology and laboratory services at Canterbury Health Laboratories across Waitaha and Te Tai o Poutini as well as leading the strategic planning and future focus of CHL.

Robert Allan

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

 
 

Biography coming soon.

Rachel joined the former Canterbury DHB in 2005 and managed the provision of support services through contractors for a number of years before leading the transition projects that created the districts’ WellFood business and Environmental Services. She is also actively involved in developing our support workforce. In 2011 she joined the Transalpine team to manage the West Coast district contracted services. Rachel will continue with her responsibilities of the operational and contract management of services to all sites and providing leadership of the WellFood Service.

Rachel has spent more than 20 years in facilities management in both the education and healthcare sectors in the UK and NZ working with both private and public organisations including the NHS and has had short stints in Switzerland and Japan. She has been involved in significant change projects over the years with some large multi-nationals; including work with Bethlem Royal Hospital & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in London, and The Royal Ballet School.

Rachel Cadle

Biography coming soon.

 

Biography coming soon.

 

David Green is currently Acting Chief Financial Officer.

Page last updated: 14 November 2024

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