Wellington Children's Hospital Under Construction
Thirty eight Rotarians from Karori, Port Nicholson and Mt Victoria Rotary Clubs gathered at the Wellington Regional Hospital on 12 November to learn more about the construction of the new Wellington Childrens' Hospital due for completion in April 2021.
Fellow Rotarian and Chairman of the Wellington Hospitals Foundation, Bill Day, welcomed everyone and gave an outline of the progress to date to build the three story new Childrens' Hospital with the generous funding of $50m from property developer and philanthropist, Mark Dunajtschik, supported by Government funding and community giving.
The new hospital will cover an area of 7500 sq metres, using 950 tonnes of structural steel, 1.2kms of floor beams and 45 base isolators to deal with seismic activity. The new hospital will have a 900,000 population coverage area from Whanganui across to Hawkes Bay down to Nelson and Marlborough. The Foundations has in addition sought funding support from a wide group of community organisations including Rotary in District 9940 to raise $6m for fit out purposes. The hospital will have two rooms given by District Rotary for family use.
Rotarians viewed the construction works from a balcony at the hospital on a beautiful Spring evening then joined together for a meal at the Wishbone café in the hospital.
Paediatric Surgeon, Brendan Bowkett
Well known Wellington Hospital Paediatric Surgeon, Brendan Bowkett, is pictured speaking to the group of Rotarians about the importance of the new Hospital to provide holistic care for children with all sorts of needs and attention. Brendan has worked prominently with Rotary through the ROMAC programme bringing in children to Wellington Hospital from the Pacific Basin and elsewhere in urgent need of surgery .