{"id":482723,"date":"2026-06-18T00:21:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T00:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/482723\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T00:21:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T00:21:07","slug":"weve-lost-our-hospital-outrage-over-health-nz-changes-in-northland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/482723\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019ve lost our hospital\u2019: Outrage over Health NZ changes in Northland"},"content":{"rendered":"

No new doctors have been recruited<\/a>, with a nurse taken off Dargaville\u2019s general ward each day to manage the evening shift, and no inpatient admissions allowed after 8.30pm.<\/p>\n

The service will cost up to $100 but will be free for children under 14, with subsidies for Community Services Card holders. <\/p>\n

Gordon Walker, interim chairman of the Dargaville Ratepayers Association, said people should be up in arms about rural hospitals being replaced with \u201cexpensive, unaffordable health hubs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019ve got to realise is that we have lost our hospital<\/a>; it\u2019s gone now and it\u2019s been replaced by a user-pays health hub. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis means that if you want free hospital care, you\u2019ll have to drive at least 45 minutes to Whang\u0101rei or call an ambulance, of which there is only one servicing our area<\/a>, so good luck with that,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

\"DargavilleDargaville Hospital will now be known as Dargaville Health Hub, with a user-pays acute and urgent care service running seven days a week. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to this decision, we had a hospital, now it\u2019s gone<\/a> and we are now faced with expensive, privatised healthcare options instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

A NZ Nurses Union (NZNO) spokeswoman, who asked not to be named, said the $100 fee was unaffordable for the rural Kaipara community and would cause greater health inequities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a high need for services to be after-hours but without the cost … A lot of people can\u2019t [even] afford the standard GP fee<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new service was also poorly set up, with no new doctors employed and no after-hours radiology, the NZNO spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n

Changing the hospital\u2019s name felt underhand and cynical, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is it a health hub and not a hospital? What does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe NZNO has been protesting about the lack of overnight doctors at Dargaville Hospital since 2024. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

Consultation shocking, ASMS says<\/p>\n

The changes were poorly consulted, according to Sarah Thompson, industrial officer for doctors\u2019 union Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).<\/p>\n

The union did not know the proposed changes were confirmed<\/a> until it saw Health NZ\u2019s press release on Tuesday, nor was the public consulted on the lack of hospital admissions after 8.30pm, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe changes to the overnight service will be a decrease for the community, with patients arriving after 8.30pm referred to a QR code or phone, or referred to Whang\u0101rei.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients in the in-patient unit who are stable will stay in Dargaville overnight but those unstable will need to transfer to Whang\u0101rei,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people need to be able to have a hospital that they can go to when they need care, not a QR code or phone at the door<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinicians were worried how the new service will run between the privately owned Dargaville Medical Centre and Health NZ \u2013 both philosophically and physically.<\/p>\n

Meeting Dargaville\u2019s need, Health NZ says<\/p>\n

\"AlexAlex Pimm, from Health NZ, says doctors, nurses and allied health professionals are available to assess and treat patients in the new service. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

Alex Pimm, Health NZ group director of operations for Te Tai Tokerau, said the changes were designed to better meet the needs of the Dargaville community, reducing the need to travel to Whang\u0101rei for care.<\/p>\n

The new Dargaville acute care service will be jointly provided by the on-site primary care provider, Dargaville Medical Centre, and Health NZ, he confirmed.<\/p>\n

The service will be staffed by doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, with rosters adjusted to \u201csafely cover the new service and existing inpatient ward\u201d, Pimm said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing to recruit specialists and nurses to strengthen the local team.\u201d<\/p>\n

While recruitment was underway, telehealth played an important role, while anyone requiring hospital-level or complex care that cannot be provided in Dargaville will be transferred to Whang\u0101rei, Pimm said.<\/p>\n

Health NZ was working to further expand the services, such as extending X-ray operating hours over the coming months, he said.<\/p>\n

\"HealthHealth Minister Simeon Brown says Dargaville’s acute and urgent care service is part of a national framework. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

After 8.30pm, care would be provided by the Ka Ora rural telehealth service, Hato Hone St John and Whang\u0101rei Hospital\u2019s Emergency Department, Pimm said.<\/p>\n

Pimm said oncology and chemotherapy services recently launched in Dargaville, currently operating one day a week, providing local care for around 72 patients each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll services continue to be staffed safely to meet the needs of the community. We greatly appreciate the commitment of our Dargaville team to consistently providing a high level of care for people in Kaipara.\u201d<\/p>\n

The name change reflected the wide range of services now delivered on site, including the Dargaville Inpatient Unit, Timatanga Hou Detoxification Unit, Dargaville Medical Centre, Te Ha Oranga O Ng\u0101ti Wh\u0101tua iwi health provider, Kaipara Hospice and Health NZ community teams, he said.<\/p>\n

Better access close to home, Brown says<\/p>\n

Health Minister Simeon Brown said the changes meant Dargaville residents had better access to healthcare close to home and were part of a national framework for urgent and after-hours care<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil now, many people needing urgent care outside normal business hours have faced a long drive to access treatment. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, more people will receive timely care in their own community, making it easier for families to get the treatment they need and reducing pressure on our emergency departments.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients will be able to be assessed and treated for a wide range of conditions, including abdominal pain, back pain, minor head injuries, minor burns, chest infections, asthma attacks, eye and ear infections, fractures, and sprains and strains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No new doctors have been recruited, with a nurse taken off Dargaville\u2019s general ward each day to manage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[23276,118967,4500,23155,28447,134,527,2241,78,23157,5836,111,139,1067,69,22213,16348,1523,7289,30509,530,8229,242474,23331,5977,102],"class_list":["post-482723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-23276","tag-alarmed","tag-changes","tag-dargaville","tag-describe","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-hospital","tag-in","tag-kaipara","tag-lost","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-our","tag-outrage","tag-over","tag-professionals","tag-replacing","tag-residents","tag-they","tag-userpays","tag-weve","tag-which","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}