The Rānui Apartments will triple the capacity for patient accommodation in the South Island, allowing families like the Raines to stay together during treatment. Photo / Supplied
The Rānui Apartments will triple the capacity for patient accommodation in the South Island, allowing families like the Raines to stay together during treatment. Photo / Supplied
A patient accommodation complex forced to turn away hundreds of families last year has undergone a multimillion-dollar development and launched a fundraising drive to cater to even more people.
Rānui Apartments, owned and operated by the Bone Marrow Trust, is set to be the largest patient accommodation in the South Island.
It will soon be able to triple the number of families and individuals it helps who need life-saving medical treatment.
Bone Marrow Cancer Trust chief executive Mandy Kennedy said the 43-apartment complex won’t come soon enough, with Rānui House having had to turn 664 families away in 2023 alone.
“Every day we are in the unfortunate position of having to turn families away because we are full. It’s heartbreaking,” Kennedy said.
Kylie, Brendon, Zac and Jackson Raine in their lounge at Rānui House. Photo / Supplied
Mum-of-two Kylie Raine first stayed at Rānui House in September 2023 after having a double mastectomy and implant surgery at Christchurch Hospital.
From Kaikōura, the family were able to continue life together in Christchurch while she received her treatment.
With a complex medical history, Kylie had a feeling things wouldn’t go as planned. She was right. What should have been one surgery turned into three, and she still has at least one surgery to go.
Kylie and her husband Brendon said Rānui House was their “saving grace”. So far, they have stayed there for a total of 44 nights across five different visits.
Kylie Raine in Christchurch Hospital after surgery in 2023. Photo / Supplied
Kylie and Brendon Raine and their boys Jackson, 8, and Zach, 4, are fronting the campaign to open Rānui Apartments doors. They’ve stepped up so more families can access what they call their “lifesaver”.
“When going through those horrible hospital times having a lovely home to go to at Rānui House meant so much to us all,” Kylie says.
National travel assistance co-ordinator for Health NZ Southern region, Steven Fyfe, said Rānui Apartments will be a game-changer for the high number of patients who are referred out of the region for treatment.
Jackson, Brendon, Zac and Kylie Raine. Photo / Supplied
“The availability of suitable accommodation in Christchurch is a real issue for us … the reality is over the last few years it’s been harder and harder to get people in there,” Fyfe said.
Funds raised through Rānui Apartments’ “Time Together” campaign, launching today, will support the opening of the apartments.
“Since the dream of Rānui Apartments was born 14 years ago costs have escalated dramatically. Like many major building projects, the closer we get to the end, the thinner the line gets between being in the red and the black,” Rānui says.
