With the Prime Minister’s announcement today that the country is moving, in 48 hours, to alert level four of its pandemic plan, Hawke’s Bay District Health Board will be making the following changes to how Hawke’s Bay Hospital, Wairoa Hospital, Napier Health and CHB Medical Centre will operate over the coming weeks.

From Thursday (26 March) outpatient and pre-operation assessment clinics will be postponed at all DHB facilities. This means that anyone who has received an appointment to an outpatient clinic, in the next four weeks, has had their appointment postponed. A district health board representative will be in touch with you if you already have an appointment scheduled.

The district health board will be putting in place as many telehealth appointments, either by video or over the phone for patients that need to be urgently assessed.

The changes to our services are as follows:

Emergency Department

Life-threatening injuries and medical conditions will be able to be treated at Hawke’s Bay Hospitals Emergency Department. Those people with minor injuries and medical conditions will be sent to accident and medical centres.

Renal Patients

Renal patients need to still attend their dialysis appointments. Please turn up as you normally would to your dialysis appointment. However, if you are unwell please phone ahead to let staff know and so they can make appropriate arrangements.

Maternity patients

Women in labour should follow their care plan as described by their Lead Maternity Carer. The DHB’s maternity facilities will remain open but closed to visitors. Only parents will be allowed on-site.

Planned surgery – electives

Only those electives that we are unable to defer will go ahead - most (elective surgery) will be postponed and rescheduled as soon as we are able.

Cancer patients

Those patients receiving chemotherapy will continue to do so as planned. Please come to your appointments as they are scheduled.  If you are unwell please phone ahead to let staff know so they can make appropriate arrangements

Urgent (life-threatening) Acute surgery

Will continue as normal.

Gastroenterology

All appointments have now been postponed and will be rescheduled. You will be contacted by a district health board representative if you had an appointment already scheduled.

Radiology

All radiology appointments other than those needing acute care have been postponed and will be rescheduled as soon as the DHB is able. A Hawke’s Bay Hospital representative will be in touch with you if you have an appointment already scheduled.

Dental

All appointments will be postponed and rescheduled as soon as we are able. A district health board representative will be in contact with you if you have an appointment already scheduled.

Visitors

Only one visitor per patient is allowed at all times.

Wairoa Hospital

Planning is underway and we will update you as details are finalised for community-based assessment centre facilities.

CHB Medical Centre

Planning is underway for how Central Hawke’s Bay facilities and community-based assessment units will operate. We will provide more information as soon as these are finalised.

We ask for your understanding at this time as our staff are reprioritised to where they are needed. We understand this will be a very distressing time for our patients, and we will be rescheduling all appointments as quickly as we are able.

Please make sure you self-isolate this will help us all return to normal more quickly and will stop our health system from being overwhelmed. 

More information on the Prime Minister’s announcement is available from https://covid19.govt.nz

A fact sheet on self-isolation is available from covid19.govt.nz/assets/resources/COVID-19_A4-Info-Sheet_Self-isolation_v2.pdf

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