Now, thanks for the St John Frailty pathway, the hospital was getting an "early warning signal" and were able to put in place preventative measures and avoid crisis, she said
St John Ambulance Hawke's Bay territory manager Brendon Hutchinson said his team had experienced frustration when they saw that only minor adjustments needed to be made for elderly people to be safe at home.
"Getting in contact with the Orbit team allows us to leave people in their homes, which is what they want, and send someone in to make their life easier.
"A byproduct of that is that it also reduces the amount of patients that we're taking into an already-busy Emergency Department. If we can get them looked at by Sarah's team at home it's great."
Shanahan said the Orbit team, comprised of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers delivered in-home care for a specific situation, but also set elderly people up with wrap around support services.
Winning the Excellence in Innovation award, which recognises initiatives which have significantly changed the way health practitioners work with patients and their families, was an unexpected but pleasant surprise, she said.
"I've found it really great working with St John. We both saw the need and were able to come together quite quickly and say 'Hey, let's get this thing going'. There was quite a lot of willingness on both sides."
Mr Hutchinson said the pilot programme, which is now a permanent service, had gone exceptionally well and it was something his team was very proud of.
"A lot of elderly people are very stoic and don't like asking for help so we've now got a portal that is really, really effective."
The families of those recieving care also loved the service, he said.
"The families love it as well from the point of view that if they're caring for mum and dad, if we can do something that's going to help them do that, and we don't have to take them to hospital, they find it a really positive experience."