FAQS
IS THE WHOLE CENTRE AND SERVICES LIMITED TO $2MILLION?
No. The building project has a limited budget, but we can be limitless in our imagination of what services we think we need. It is the project teams job to collect the evidence to advocate for resourcing of services that do not already exist.
IS THIS JUST FOR MĀORI? IS THIS JUST FOR NGĀTI RANGI?
No. The wellness centre will be the main health and wellbeing facility available for the entire southern Ruapehu population. It is for everyone, and as such so is this project and the opportunity to contribute to the design of the building AND the services, care and experiences that should be accessible within it. The RWT projects outcomes have always been for the entire community, led through an indigenous – fair – holistic worldview for all.
WILL I LOSE MY JOB?
No. It is not the intention of the project to affect anyones employment. When the doors to the wellness centre open, the facility will house staff and practitioners from all different employers, who will be working together out of the same facility.
IS THIS JUST ABOUT A BUILDING PROJECT?
No. The catalyst is the fact that we have the funding to repurpose the building. But the most important elements of this project are re-imagining the way our health and social service systems work, and coming up with a new way of working together with access to different care, services and experiences that will ultimately address the many concerns we have heard and captured across the community, as well as fundamentally addressing the health issues present in our community – as evidenced through data from the local GP service. This is about transforming the health system into a wellness system.
WHO SAID WE WANTED A WELLNESS CENTRE?
Over 1400 people across our sitting population of 3500 - 4000pp in southern Ruapehu area said. Through workshops, interviews and opt-in consultation that occured over 2018 – 2019. And since then more of our community have. The reality is that there will still be the services we are used to (clinical) AND then also our community will have access to non-clnical, natural, alternative appraoches to care and wellbeing. The question should be – why wouldnt we want more options and better access to care through a wellness centre? Also, to be clear, the funding was approved on the premise of establishing a more innovative approach to care, beyond the ‘normal’ health system that the nation is used to.
WHY IS IT IN RAETIHI? IS IT JUST FOR RAETIHI?
No it is not just for Raetihi. It must be located in Raetihi as it must be on Whanganui District Health Board (WDHB) premises. The building funding is coming from the Ministry of Health through to the WDHB. The Health Centre is owned by the WDHB, the project had to be on the WDHB premises. This centre will be the main, primary facility for health and wellbeing services for the entire southern Ruapehu population. Therefore it is for everyone who will access the services. Currently the local GP services over 3500 people. Using data, and analysis methods we estimate that the new centre will/could service up to 6000 people across the southern end of the district. We predict that more people will want to travel to the Welllness Centre, as it will provide services that they normally seek out of town/elsewhere, and it will provide an innovative model of care that will simply attract more users.
EVERYTHING IS ALREADY DESIGNED SO WHY SHOULD WE PARTICIPATE?
Incorrect. Nothing is set in concrete except the building budget. All plans and designs for the physical building, and more importantly the services, care and experiences are open for contributions from the living population of southern Ruapehu – all of us, those who work and live here. Participating is optional, but this is a never-happened-before opportunity where you genuinely get to input into the design of a wellness facility and its services. All ideas will be recorded, collated and synthesised to help design everything. Understandably decisions for sense, timing and future-proofing will be made by the project steering group and the employers of those staff within the facility. But this project is absolutely waiting and listening for the voices of all people who will work within, and access the care and services of the wellness centre.
We encourage you to participate. As everyone shares their ideas and conversations in groups, it also benefits the relationships across our community and the implementation of the wellness centre model of care once the doors are open. The conversations also help us all as the community learn to lead our own wellbeing, and learn from each other. There are so many talented and knowledgable people in our community who have amazing know-how and skills to share when it comes to using natural resources and approaches to self-lead care and wellbeing. This is just one way we can share learnings together.
WHERE DID THIS PROJECT COME FROM?
A joint research project resourced by Whanganui District Health Board (WDHB), Healthy Families Ruapehu, Rangitikei, Whanganui and the Ruapehu Whānau Transformation plan. It was based off the first community-driven RWT plan whereby a significant proportion of the community identified that access to health services and information was always lacking locally, and the community-identified solution was to establish a more integrated model of care through a Integrated Community Health Centre. In 2018 that hypothesis was tested out on over 1400 community members, including the health and social service workforce. There was a graduation of thought around the integrated centre – that health services were not enough to address the true needs of the community, and a more holistic wellness approach should be taken. The community confirmed a Community Wellness Centre would be a far better solution for the current and future populations. A centre that continues to evolve its services and approach as the needs of the community evolve.
WHO IS PAYING FOR THIS PROJECT?
Currently, WDHB and RWT. Currently the WDHB will fund the building project. Realistically, to achieve a centre that will truly address our needs we may have to raise more funding to contribute as a community. Then this will influence the ownershpi model of the centre too. RWT is funding all of the current activities outside of the building project ie. the workshops, the conversations, the communications, the project managment planning, the continued research, the Summit.
WHY IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO 2022/2023 TO OPEN THE DOORS TO THE WELLNESS CENTRE?
The main reason is that Ministry funded projects require intermittent sign-off from the Minister of Health and their Ministry. These processes are managed by the project steering group, and WDHB. We will do all we can to continue to progress the project seamlessly, and successfully. Your input as a community including the workforce is vital for this, so we continue to advocate for the right things that will make the right difference for all of you.