Te Puke Orchardist Last to Leave Ward

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Te Puke Orchardist Last to Leave Ward

When Te Puke orchardist Kelvin Reynolds’ general practitioner told him earlier this month blood tests showed he had acute myeloid leukaemia, he knew he had a tough battle ahead.

The 71-year-old has farmed all his working life so is unafraid of a challenge.

Admission to Waikato Hospital’s ward 25 and the chemotherapy that followed meant he got to know the doctors, nurses, health care assistants and support workers pretty well.

So when they voted among themselves to give Mr Reynolds the privilege of being the last patient to leave the old ward 25 in the condemned Smith Building and move to ward M5 haematology and oncology in the Menzies Building, he was chuffed.

“I have to say all the staff here have just been wonderful and I know how much they are looking forward to caring for me and the other patients in the new ward,” he said.

Kelvin’s wife Dulcie and daughter Sheryl Lilley were with him for the move this morning (Thursday 28 November) into the freshly-painted new room with stunning views of Hamilton lake.

He still has a battle ahead of him health-wise and back in Te Puke where last year he lost 14ha of gold kiwifruit to the bacterial vine disease PSA.

While he still has 3ha of green kiwifruit left, time will tell whether that will survive.

He left dairy farming 12 years ago to take up growing kiwifruit and running dry stock.

“We had several years getting it established, three or four years of good crops and now this which is just devastating,” he said.

“I just want to thank everyone here at Waikato Hospital.

We as a region are very fortunate to have access to what is available here and they deserve the new facilities they’ve got so they can continue to care for patients from Bay of Plenty and everywhere else.”

The first patient Beverley Attrill, 73, of Hamilton said she thought the new ward was “wonderful and that the staff deserve a nice place to work in and the patients need a nice place to rest.

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ENDS

About Waikato District Health Board and Health Waikato:

Waikato DHB is responsible for planning, funding and providing quality health and disability support services for the 372,865 people living in the Waikato DHB region. It has an annual turnover of $1.2 billion and employs more than 6000 people.

Health Waikato is the DHB’s main provider of hospital and health services with an annual budget of more than $701 million and 5238 staff. It has six groups across five hospital sites, three primary birthing units, two continuing care facilities and 20 community bases offering a comprehensive range of primary, secondary and tertiary health services.

A wide range of independent providers deliver other Waikato DHB-funded health services - including primary health, pharmacies and community laboratories.

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