Inaugural Kaiāwhina Celebrations Led By MidCentral

Our district's first ever Kaiāwhina awards, acknowledging the contribution of Kaiāwhina to the health care workforce took place this week at Te Whatu Ora – Te Pae Hauora o Ruahine o Tararua | MidCentral.

Kaiāwhina is an overarching term to describe roles in the health and disability sector such as Healthcare Assistants, Hospital Aides, Orderlies and Mental Health Support Workers. Kaiāwhina embody the core essence of a team member who is passionate, resilient, diverse, skilled and committed to supporting hauora (holistic wellbeing) outcomes.

Supported by the Ministry of Health, the Kaiāwhina Workforce Plan looks to increase awareness and recognition of Kaiāwhina, and the key roles they play in the workforce. MidCentral became the first district to acknowledge their Kaiāwhina with such a ceremony.

Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery, and project sponsor Celina Eves, said that it was incredible to see our Kaiāwhina come together and be recognised for the amazing work they do.

‘Our Kaiāwhina make a huge difference to our patients, their friends and whānau when they are in hospital. Our teams work throughout the hospital, and are crucial parts of our Maternity, our OPAL and STAR wards, Ambulatory Care and Emergency Departments.’

MidCentral encouraged staff to nominate a Kaiāwhina who demonstrated the values set out in the Kaiāwhina Workforce Plan every day in their work, and who went above and beyond in their approach to supporting patients. They also demonstrated the MidCentral organisational values – ka whai aroha (compassionate), ka whai ngākau (respectful), ka mātātoa (courageous) and ka noho haepapa (accountable).

From these nominations, six outstanding Kaiāwhina were recognised in 2022.The winners were David Goldstone (IOC – Staff Bureau), Ange Houpapa-Lovett (Health Care Assistant, Ambulatory Care / Urology), Bernadette Casey (Health Care Assistant, OPAL Unit), Angela Lawrence (Radiation Therapy Assistant), Sharon Tamarapa (Radiation Therapy Assistant) and Madysen Woodley-Wilson (Health Care Assistant, Maternity and Women’s Health).

‘The awards will run annually, and I am excited to see this initiative grow. Our Kaiāwhina are dedicated, passionate people who have a real impact throughout all of our facilities and I’m pleased to acknowledge our Kaiāwhina workforce more.’

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