The bus is currently at Cullinane College. Photo / Bevan Conley.
The bus is currently at Cullinane College. Photo / Bevan Conley.
Two years on from its launch, Whanganui’s Waka Hauora Health Bus is getting down to what it was intended for.
The first project of the Robert Bartley Foundation, it was initially used as a mobile Covid-19 vaccination and testing station.
Foundation chairwoman Sarah Bartley-Leguizamon said the bus had been in schools around the region over the past few months in partnership with Te Whatu Ora.
“We are doing things like sexual health clinics, general health checks and mental health,” she said.
“At the moment it’s focused on the youth sector but there have also been a few general vaccination days at the Saturday [Whanganui River] markets - flu shots, measles, mumps, rubella, that kind of thing.”
She said it was never intended to be the “Covid bus”.
Her father, the late Robert Bartley, learned that the Whanganui District Library bus was being retired and originally planned to turn it into a mobile cancer clinic.
“That didn’t go ahead at the time so then it was ‘What other needs do we have in Whanganui?’,” Bartley-Leguizamon said.
“It was identified that we needed to get healthcare to vulnerable and isolated areas.”
Public health nurse Donna Thomson is on the bus at Cullinane College this week.
It was at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Tupoho previously.
Thomson said the main focus was completing Heeadsss (Home, Education/Employment, Eating, Activities, Drugs and Alcohol, Sexuality, Suicide and Depression, Safety) assessments for Year 9 students.
Nurses Donna Thomson and Jolene Yandall will be focussed on Year 9 Heeadsss assessments this week. Photo / Bevan Conley
“We do their height, weight and blood pressure and have quick chat about school, home, activities, drugs and alcohol and sexuality.
“I say it’s a warrant of fitness for them - making sure everything is going okay when they’re starting secondary school.
“If they’ve got a high BMI [body mass index] they can be referred to other services or if they’re having issues at home we can refer them to counselling.”
When the assessments weren’t taking place, students of any year could knock on the door and be seen “for anything”, Thomson said.
“It is a stop shop while it’s at Cullinane.
“When we were setting up yesterday the students were very inquisitive and it definitely catches the eye. We want it to be seen and recognised by the community.
“I do sexual health within the schools but it would be really cool to have somewhere outside the schools for that as well, just to make it normal, basically.”
Robert Bartley, who was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in 2019 for services to the community, bought the bus for $1 from the Whanganui District Council and spent $100,000 on a full kit out.
He died after a long battle with cancer in March 2021 at the age of 69.
Bartley-Leguizamon said future projects could include cervical screening, education on cancer prevention and general health checks so people could “catch things before they’ve gone too far”.
“It’s been awesome to see that we’re in the next stage. It’s not the Covid bus, it’s the Waka Hauora Health Bus.
“I’d like to give a special mention to our amazing volunteer drivers too. They are champions.”
