Tokoroa Hospital Celebrates 40th With The Board

Tokoroa Hospital has extended their 40th birthday celebrations over a week so they can have some special guests to join in the festivities.

While the hospital's official birthday is on Sunday (2 August), Waikato District Health Board is also holding a full board meeting at the hospital the following week.

This will be the first time Tokoroa has hosted a DHB board meeting, so is perfect timing for organisation-wide recognition of a longstanding service to the South Waikato community.

Hospital manager Joanne Knight said milestones such as 40ths were often catalysts for reflection on years gone by.

"In the first year Tokoroa Hospital opened, there were 1412 outpatient appointments - last year we had 3800 appointments," said Mrs Knight.

"In 1959 there were 1687 Emergency Department presentations, yet last year we saw nearly 9000 ED presentations here."

Mrs Knight said there was a noticeable change in the focus of health care and health education in the years since Tokoroa Hospital first opened its doors.

"The focus has certainly shifted from long stays in hospital to recovery at home, with many health services based in the community to assist that.

"Health promotion is incredibly important these days in educating people about chronic disease prevention and management - all these things we do differently now to keep people out of hospital unnecessarily.

"We're smarter about promoting good health and wellbeing today."

She said Tokoroa Hospital had provided the 40 years of service to the community with dedicated staff that look forward to providing continued services and offering employment opportunities well into the future.

"The culture and spirit of this community hospital is second to none," she said.

On Wednesday, 12 August Waikato DHB board members will gather at Tokoroa Hospital for their full board meeting where there will be birthday cake to celebrate.

Later this month, Tokoroa Hospital staff will create a display of the 40 years in the hospital foyer, and would love to hear from original staff from the hospital.

NB: The Waikato DHB board meeting is a public meeting, and members invite local media to attend the public section, including the cake cutting ceremony at morning tea.

Please visit www.waikatodhb.govt.nz for the agenda, which includes all details of the meeting.

ENDS