Prendergast praises even-handed hospital decision

“An even-handed and far-sighted decision” is how Wellington Deputy Mayor Kerry Prendergast described Health Minister Wyatt Creech’s announcement of a new tertiary hospital at Newtown and ‘beefed up’ hospital services at Kenepuru.

“My congratulations to the Minister – he has listened and listened well to many interested groups including Wellington and Porirua City Councils and delivered a balanced response,” says Ms Prendergast.

“There’s enough good thinking in this announcement to please everyone, not the least the residents of Wellington’s northern suburbs who lobbied hard to see Kenepuru upgraded.

“Mr Creech has taken into account the specific health needs of communities throughout the region and recognised the necessity of upgrading hospital facilities at both sites.

“One of the main challenges was making it easier for people in Kapiti, Porirua Tawa and Johnsonville to access hospital facilities. This decision addresses that issue by bringing increased services closer to the people who need them.

“As is well known, the hospital at Newtown has been denied badly-needed upgrading for several years. Now that the political will to change that situation has been supplied, Wellington can look forward to finally getting the state-of-the-art hospital the Capital of New Zealand deserves.

ENDS

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