Kidz First is 'cool' medicine for South Auckland's young

By ALAN PERROTT

Conrad Galvin fell out of a tree and into a bed inside South Auckland Health's new $20 million Kidz First children's hospital.

It is no way to spend the school holidays, but the 9-year-old Manurewa resident is more than happy to nurse his broken arm in such plush surroundings.

"It's cool. I've got a cool view, TV, a remote, and a clean toilet. It's all beautiful."

Conrad's mum, Claudette, was also impressed.

"I'm just a little speechless. It's all so lovely and colourful. That helps the children, it really does," she said.

While Kidz First will not officially open until December, Conrad was one of the first children to move into Middlemore's new 82-bed specialist hospital yesterday.

South Auckland Health chief executive David Clarke approved.

"This is the realisation of a 10-year dream to get the resources the staff deserve and the people need," he said.

"We have some of the heaviest workloads in the country and disease patterns that are almost Third World."

Mr Clarke's unwillingness to wait for Government funding meant going it alone with private funding.

Even so, South Auckland Health is still $4 million short of the $20 million needed to complete Kidz First.

"We decided there was no choice but to go ahead and do it properly, not just for this generation but also to cope with the demands of those to come."

Middlemore Hospital opened in May 1947 with a capacity of 45,000.

During the busy winter months, those same wards are now crammed with up to 70,000 patients.

This means squeezing sick children into adult wards or parking chronically ill children alongside drunk and violent adults in the emergency department.

Mr Clarke said this situation was intolerable and had been getting worse.

There are 95,000 children under 15 living in Counties Manukau and the number being admitted with chronic illnesses is increasing about 10 per cent a year.

Kidz First is the first part of reversing that flow. The second is preventive care.

Kidz First will open its paediatric emergency department in November and a coronary care unit in February.