{"id":525294,"date":"2026-07-14T08:43:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T08:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/525294\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T08:43:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T08:43:55","slug":"rotorua-hospital-adds-18-temporary-beds-to-ease-winter-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/525294\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotorua Hospital adds 18 temporary beds to ease winter pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Health NZ Midland and Te Manawa Taki region executive regional director Cath Cronin said there had been more than 27,000 emergency department presentations at Rotorua and Taup\u014d Hospitals for the first six months of 2026.<\/p>\n

Lakes Emergency Departments were \u201cvery busy\u201d, which was normal for this time of year.<\/p>\n

Cronin said the Lakes district\u2019s latest health target performance for the March quarter was 83.4% of patients seen within six hours.<\/p>\n

Winter illnesses similar to last year <\/p>\n

Dr Genevieve Matthews, Rotorua Area Primary Health Services (RAPHS) chair and GP, said it had been \u201cthe usual winter of many viral respiratory illnesses hitting patients across the age groups\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnecdotally it seems no different in comparison to last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthews said influenza was a serious illness that debilitated patients for at least a week, and up to two weeks. It carried high risks for those with underlying respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and the elderly.<\/p>\n

She recommended getting the influenza vaccination, washing hands regularly and ventilating office and classroom spaces.<\/p>\n

Matthews also recommended sick people wear a mask if they had to be out and about.<\/p>\n

PHF Science data showed the weekly rate for influenza-like illness-related Healthline calls in the Te Manawa Taki region has been the highest this year for the week ending June 28.<\/p>\n

The region\u2019s rate was 18.35 calls per 100,000 people \u2013 lower than the national rate of 20.29 calls per 100,000.<\/p>\n

The data for weekly hospital admission rates for severe acute respiratory infection showed the national rate was 9.043 people per 100,000 for the week ending June 28 and was measured in the \u201cmedium activity\u201d band.<\/p>\n

The hospitalisation rate was lower than the same week last year, when it was measured in the \u201chigh activity\u201d band.<\/p>\n

RSV vaccine <\/p>\n

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common, highly contagious seasonal virus that affects the lungs and breathing passages and is more serious in infants and older adults.<\/p>\n

In a June 25 statement, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline said its vaccine Arexvy was the world\u2019s first RSV vaccine for older adults. <\/p>\n

It was available from New Zealand pharmacies and GP clinics for private purchase.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s website said the list price was $321, but this did not represent the price to have it administered.<\/p>\n

One dose, given before or during the peak RSV winter season, was expected to protect for up to three years, the statement said.<\/p>\n

Economic modelling showed publicly funding the vaccine for people aged 65 and older would help prevent thousands of hospitalisations and emergency department visits.<\/p>\n

At a 60% uptake over four years, an estimated 34,986 GP visits, 1113 ED presentations and 5395 hospitalisations would be prevented, it said.<\/p>\n

Pharmac\u2019s application tracker for Arexvy showed the Government agency received a funding application from GlaxoSmithKline in January 2024 and sought clinical advice the following month. <\/p>\n

The application, as of May this year, was being assessed.<\/p>\n

Patient information <\/p>\n

Health NZ encouraged people with non-urgent concerns to consider other options for access to acute care, including the free Healthline (0800 611 116) to speak to a registered nurse, or local GPs, healthcare providers and community pharmacies. Further information can be found here:<\/p>\n

Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Health Information and Services \u2013\u00a0info.health.nz<\/a>Healthline – 0800 611 116 –\u00a0info.health.nz<\/a>\u00a0GP telehealth services – Online doctor appointments.Ka Ora – 0800 252 672 – Rural telehealth care \u2014 Ka Ora Telecare.Healthpoint \u2013\u00a0https:\/\/healthpoint.co.nz<\/a>\u00a0– for Hauora M\u0101ori and Pacific health providers, and operating hours for local services.<\/p>\n

Anyone who needed emergency care should go to ED without delay or call 111. EDs remained open 24\/7, 365 days a year.<\/p>\n

Megan Wilson<\/a> is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Health NZ Midland and Te Manawa Taki region executive regional director Cath Cronin said there had been more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[20391,27309,34284,69003,1558,4190,8449,57409,305,134,527,5838,2241,9554,111,139,69,21411,1327,204,61,57284,23644],"class_list":["post-525294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-20391","tag-added","tag-adds","tag-beds","tag-been","tag-demand","tag-ease","tag-eighteen","tag-have","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-help","tag-hospital","tag-manage","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pressure","tag-rotorua","tag-temporary","tag-to","tag-wards","tag-winter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525294","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=525294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}