Registered nurse Brian Elliott has retired three times; Julie Blair, with an extensive district nursing background, was planning to retire last March … but now they are busy working as a crucial component in the biggest vaccination programme in Whanganui’s history.

It was just the right moment that led Ned Tapa to quit cigarettes after being a smoker for 45 years.

Dry July should be a little easier this year with the help of a few of the lads from Whanganui District Health Board.

The Whanganui region’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign has now pushed into Group 3 of the population, with more than 16,000 doses delivered.

Forty-five children, some with significant barriers to overcome, got the chance to mix with their peers and try out a variety of sporting activities at an AccessAbility event at Springvale Stadium on Wednesday, 9 June 2021.

A large COVID-19 vaccination centre opened in Whanganui city centre on Tuesday 2 June. Named Te Rito, the Whanganui Wellness and Vaccination Centre is in the former Warehouse Stationery store in lower Victoria Avenue.

Nurses, midwives and health care assistants working at Whanganui District Health Board, who belong to New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), are planning to strike from 11am to 7pm on Wednesday, 9 June 2021.

Protection from COVID-19 will get a boost on 2 June with the opening of a large vaccination facility in Whanganui city centre.

Neonatal care in Whanganui has been given a boost with the arrival of two new incubators.

As overseas experience has shown, prisons are particularly susceptible to the threat of an outbreak of COVID-19. The unique nature of the Corrections environment makes people who live and work in prisons especially vulnerable to the virus.

The rollout out of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Whanganui region is well under way, with border workers, frontline health staff, rest home, police, fire and prison personnel among those who have had the jab.

Springvale Manor, a Whanganui residential and dementia care facility, has had 100 per cent uptake of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine, for both staff and residents.

The Rotary Club of Wanganui North recently gifted 400 ‘Rhyming Around The Alphabet’ books and alphabet flashcards sets to the WDHB for the whānau of each baby born in Whanganui, Taihape and Waimarino.

A partnership between Whanganui District Health Board and local iwi health services has been launched and aims to help 100 at-risk families each year.

26 March 2021 From Monday 29 March the community based assessment centre (CBAC) on the Whanganui Hospital campus, which provides tests for COVID-19, will be open from 8am to 1pm, Monday…

Plans are under way for the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine across the Whanganui, Rangitikei and south Ruapehu districts.

While we await vaccine for COVID-19, immunisation is available for measles – a disease which is eight times more contagious than coronavirus.

Free MMR vaccinations are now available at Unichem, Central City Pharmacy and Countdown Pharmacy. MMR vaccines are also available through GPs and schools.

A nationwide measles immunisation campaign reached Whanganui’s River Markets on Saturday, as immunisation coordinators and registered nurses joined forces to raise awareness about the measles vaccine.

The Government is to invest up to $40 million towards a measles catch-up campaign to immunise 30,000 people aged between 15 and 30 years.

From Monday, 1 March, the Whanganui Hospital campus CBAC, which provides tests for COVID-19, will be open from 8am to 2pm, Monday to Friday. 

Raising funds for the Cancer Society is a cause close to the hearts of Whanganui District Health Board’s “MICAMHAS & Friends” Relay For Life team.

The Stanford House Mahi Toi exhibition -- launched at the Community Arts Centre on Taupo Quay – features the work of clients of the medium secure forensic unit at Whanganui Hospital.

The positive response to its involvement in the New Zealand Masters Games has delighted Whanganui District Health Board.

Applications are open for the Health Workforce New Zealand Hauora Māori Training Fund and Māori Support Fund.  

Whanganui district leadership has declared the upcoming Downer New Zealand Masters Games, being hosted by the town and district, a “COVID Safety Zone.”

WDHB is offering free fitness and recovery sessions and health and wellbeing seminars at the Masters Games Hub, Whanganui War Memorial Centre.

Whanganui District Health Board is proud to be the Health Partner for the 2021 Downer New Zealand Masters Games. This is the first year the DHB has partnered with the Games, hailed as an “important move” by WDHB chief executive Russell Simpson.

Whanganui Hospital will be serving patients a delicious Christmas Day menu on December 25, beginning with a traditional meal at midday. 

Father Christmas faces a lot of challenges at this very busy time of year… but a positive bowel screening test was the last thing he expected.