VISITING HOSPITAL

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

Last updated:
13 March 2023

Some visitor restrictions for all 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 so we recommend 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 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 may have more than one visitor, except in some situations such as multi-bed rooms where it can cause overcrowding.
  • Surgical/medical masks are recommended to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • For Specialist Mental Health Services everyone is strongly encouraged to wear a face mask in all inpatient areas and areas where consumers are receiving care (i.e. community appointments, home-visits, transporting people). Discretion may be applied in cases where masks impair your ability to communicate effectively.
  • Visitors must not eat or drink in multibed rooms because of the increased risk when multiple people remove their face 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.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People can 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.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours with the exception of Christchurch Women’s Hospital.

All visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers are able to be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where just one parent/caregiver is able to attend their appointment with their child. Exceptions by special arrangement only.

Patients and visitors should also read the additional more detailed visiting guidelines for each specific hospital.

More COVID-19 information

Canterbury DHB is now Energy-Mark Silver certified

Tuesday 5 December 2017Media release2 minutes to read

THIS IS AN ARCHIVED PAGE. The advice and information contained in this page may not be current and it should only be used for historical reference purposes.

Thanks to the hard work, expertise and commitment of Canterbury DHB’s energy management team, including our Energy Manager Tim Emson, last week the DHB earned a well-deserved Energy-Mark® Silver certification from Enviro-Mark Solutions, the leading provider of environmental certification in New Zealand.

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities use a lot of energy – notably in heating systems and electrical power. To save costs, including environmental costs, Canterbury DHB is concerned to reduce energy consumption wherever possible. This requires careful management by our in-house team of energy planning and engineering specialists.

Canterbury DHB is also committed to reducing its carbon footprint through use of more environmentally sustainable energy sources, notably our environmentally friendly wood waste boilers at Burwood Hospital and Hillmorton Hospital. A similar approach is in the planning stages for the replacement boilers on the Christchurch Hospital campus.

In October 2016, Canterbury DHB was awarded Energy-Mark Bronze certification for our energy management system. The Energy-Mark Silver certification builds on these achievements, requiring the DHB to carefully outline objectives and targets for energy management and create specific energy projects to reduce energy use. Our energy use performance is being tracked over time and will be communicated to staff and to the public. Also at the Silver level, consideration is made for the training and awareness needs of staff who have a significant impact on energy use.

According to Dr Belinda Mathers, General Manager Technical from Enviro-Mark Solutions, a Silver level certification is a significant achievement. “At Silver level, certified organisations have a functioning energy management system with plans in place for monitoring and targets for improving energy efficiency. This puts your organisation in the group of most aware and proactive companies in New Zealand. On behalf of Enviro-Mark Solutions, thank you for your efforts to reduce your impact on the global climate.”

Canterbury DHB chief executive, David Meates, said this Award is great news for the organisation. “Energy management in a very large organisation like our DHB is a tremendously complex matter. It’s also vital to the current and future health of our communities that we achieve sustainable, environmentally aware energy use. Tim Emson and his expert team have done a fantastic job to achieve this Silver Energy-Mark Award – and of course, we’re going for Gold next!

ENDS

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Page last updated: 19 October 2022

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