Palmerston North Hospital

Palmerston North Regional Hospital
MidCentral District Health Board
Palmerston North Regional Hospital main building, May 2020
Map
Geography
LocationPalmerston North, Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand
Coordinates40°20′19″S 175°37′13″E / 40.3387°S 175.6203°E / -40.3387; 175.6203
Organisation
FundingPublic hospital
TypeGeneral
Services
Emergency departmentYes
Beds354
HelipadICAO: NZJM
History
Opened1893
Links
WebsiteOfficial website
ListsHospitals in New Zealand

Palmerston North Regional Hospital is the primary public hospital in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Located at the northern end of Ruahine Street, it is approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) northeast of The Square. The hospital is operated by the MidCentral District Health Board, which serves Palmerston North and the surrounding districts of Manawatū, Tararua and Horowhenua districts.

As of 2020, the hospital has 354 inpatient beds.[1] It is a major trauma centre, one of four in the lower North Island, alongside Hawke's Bay Hospital, Whanganui Hospital and Wellington Regional Hospital.[2]

History

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The hospital first opened on 27 November 1893 with 25 inpatient beds across four wards, and was staffed by two doctors and three nurses.[3] Ellen Dougherty was the hospital's first matron and became the world's first registered nurse on 10 January 1902, following the passage of the Nurses Registration Act 1901 by New Zealand Parliament.[4][5][6]

In 1968, a 20-year-old male patient died during surgery at the hospital in New Zealand's first recorded case of malignant hyperthermia (MH), a genetic disorder which causes a severe reaction in susceptible person when exposed to certain anaesthetic agents. It was later discovered that the deceased was part of a large family based in the Manawatū region with a long history of the MH gene. As a result, approximately one in every 200 surgeries at Palmerston North Regional Hospital involves a MH-susceptible patient, compared to between 1:10,000 and 1:250,000 worldwide. New Zealand's first (and only) MH testing centre was set up at Massey University in 1978, and was taken over the hospital's anaesthetic department in 1986.[7][8][9]

In early October 2024, the New Zealand Government allocated NZ$6 million to improve emergency department wait times and patient care and services at Palmerston North Hospital.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "Palmerston North Hospital". Ministry of Health NZ. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  2. ^ "New Zealand Out-of-Hospital Major Trauma Destination Policy -- Lower North Island Area" (PDF). National Trauma Network/Te Hononga Whētuki ā-Motu. February 2017.
  3. ^ "Palmerston North Hospital celebrates 125 years". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  4. ^ "Palmerston North Hospital 125th Anniversary". www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  5. ^ "World's first state-registered nurses | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  6. ^ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Dougherty, Ellen". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  7. ^ "Malignant Hyperthermia Background". www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  8. ^ "The gene, the whaler, and 20 years of research - Massey University". www.massey.ac.nz. Massey University. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  9. ^ Collins, Simon (2017-10-09). "Baby's parents' warning: Anaesthetic triggered extreme reaction". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  10. ^ "Funding to ease Palmerston North ED pressure". Inside Government. JSL media. 8 October 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
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