Immediate Release
4 February 2025
Whakatāne Hospital Urgent Challenges:
Te Moana a Toi Iwi Māori Partnership Board & Te Whatu Ora
Working Collaboratively to Identify Solutions
Te Moana a Toi Iwi Māori Partnership Board (IMPB) met with Te Whatu Ora late yesterday following public
meetings held last Thursday and Friday in Whakātane, Kawerau and Ōpōtiki by the national health service.
The hui provided a platform for constructive collaboration to tackle urgent challenges in hauora service delivery
adversely impacting whānau Māori in the eastern Bay of Plenty region.
Deputy Chief Executive Ms Catherine Cronin and senior officials met with IMPB Co-Chair Hone Te Rire and
General Manager Vincent Copeland to discuss concerns raised by the community, including clinicians at
Whakatāne Hospital.
The IMPB emphasised the need for immediate, practical solutions alongside a long-term governance framework
to ensure sustainable improvements.
“Here a lot of our communities are stretched, yearning for help, a union for support, and really want some
concrete stuff on the ground. Our IMPB is here to help out as best as we can,” said Hone Te Rire
Te Whatu Ora expressed a commitment to working together with iwi, hapū, whānau, the IMPB, and local
providers to resolve the current challenges.
Ms. Cronin acknowledged that empowering the local hospital team would be a key immediate first step so local
healthcare staff are back in control of their destiny with solutions including:
• Enabling Whakatāne Hospital to manage its own rosters.
• Appointing an interim General Manager who must live in Whakatāne.
• Establishing an Interim Management Team.
Discussions canvassed the impact of maternity and specialist service cuts, healthcare access, and workforce
management challenges.
The IMPB understands that two-thirds of Māori births in this region are high-risk due to conditions like
hypertension, heart damage from rheumatic fever and predisposition to haemorrhage due to multiple prior births.
The closure of Whakatāne Hospital’s maternity services presents logistical challenges for whānau.
Those in remote coastal areas, such as Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, now face a 400km journey to access healthcare.
The distance and cost pose major barriers, making essential medical care increasingly out of reach.
In 2022, 1,264 Māori babies were born in the Bay of Plenty, accounting for 39.7 percent of all births in the region.
However, only 64.5 percent of Māori mothers were enrolled with a Lead Maternity Carer in their first trimester,
before 14 weeks of pregnancy. More than three in ten Māori women miss out on this crucial intervention.¹
Many whānau Māori in the Bay of Plenty live in high-deprivation conditions, delay seeking medical care due to
cost, are three times more likely than non-Māori to lack access to a car, twice as likely to live in cold, damp
homes, and have a life expectancy 8.1 years shorter than the general population.
- Source: https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Te-Moana-a-Toi-Health-Profile-Vol2_22-May2024.pdf
“Critical decisions need to be made quickly, but we believe that by working supportively together, we can find
practical solutions that improve healthcare for whānau Māori and community at large,” said Copeland.
Hapū Māmā who are at greatest risk and most likely to be transported to Tauranga Hospital to give birth are
those who are not currently registered with a Lead Maternity Carer.
Te Moana a Toi IMPB urges all expectant Māmās to register by contacting their local midwife, GP, or seek
support from a Māori health provider as soon as possible to plan their care and avoid unnecessary risks.
ENDS
Background
Website: https://temoanaatoi.impb.maori.nz/
Te Moana a Toi is the name of the Iwi Māori partnership Board (IMPB) representing the iwi across Mai i Ngā Kuri
a Whārei ki Tihirau.
It represents 16 iwi from the rohe.
- Ngāi Tai
- Ngāi Te Rangi
- Ngāti Awa
- Ngāti Makino
- Ngāti Manawa
- Ngāti Pukenga
- Ngāti Ranginui
- Ngāti Whakahemo
- Ngāti Whakaue ki Maketu
- Tapuika
- Te Whānau-ā-Apanui
- Te Whānau a Te Ehutu
- Waitaha
- Whakatōhea
- Ngāti Rangitihi
- Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki Kawera
Media Requests: vincent.copeland@impb.maori.nz