Hōhipera o Papaioea Palmerston North Hospital

Palmerston North hospital provides assessment, investigation, education and treatment for patients with cardiac disease through both inpatient and outpatient services.

Tamariki (children) up to the age of 15 years are cared for in the children's ward. These include both medical and surgical patients.

Palmerston North Hospital has preschool, school, adolescent and hospital dental services. A number of these services are also offered in community and school dental services.

Palmerston North Hospital has a dermatology outpatient service. Assessment, education and treatment of dermatological conditions, particularly those that are of a chronic nature, are available by referral from your healthcare provider.

Palmerston North Hospital's diabetes service operates from the Diabetes and Endocrinology Service in the Northside building. The focus of the service is to provide specialist care with a multidisciplinary approach to people with diabetes who most require it.

Palmerston North Hospital has dietitians to help you with dietary needs based on your reason for being referred to them.

ElderHealth is a specialist service for people over the age of 65 years — 55 years for Māori — with a focus on assessment, treatment and rehabilitation.

Palmerston North Hospital offers gastroenterology services including:

• inpatient support from other healthcare professionals predominately from medicine and surgery
• outpatient support for inflammatory bowel disease and hepatitis C clinics, gastroscopy, colonoscopy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).

The Palmerston North Hospital Sexual Health Service sees people for gender affirming health care on referral. They provide:

• medical assessment for and initiation of gender affirming hormone therapy as per the Guidelines for Gender Affirming Healthcare for Gender Diverse and Transgender Children, Young People and Adults in Aotearoa New Zealand
• referral to Fertility Associates
• facilitation of referral for gender affirming genital surgery through the High Cost Treatment Pool as per the Ministry of Health pathway.

Palmerston North Hospital's general medicine outpatient clinic is available if you have a non-acute medical condition that requires specialist assessment and treatment.

If you have either an acute need or an uncertain diagnosis and do not require immediate admission to hospital, but cannot wait to be seen at a normal, urgent outpatient clinic then you will be referred to the general medicine acute assessment clinic. This clinic is targeted at those patients who would otherwise be referred to the emergency department for assessment.
 
The infectious diseases outpatient clinic is available should you have problems that are or may be caused by infections and could complicate surgical procedures. If you have Hepatitis B, unusual organisms obtained on culture, recurrent cellulitis or boils you may be seen at this clinic.

Palmerston North Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) is a specially staffed and equipped department that provides care, specific monitoring and treatment for patients. Patients who are experiencing severe or life threatening medical problems, or who have suffered severe trauma or had undergone high-risk surgical procedures are admitted to the ICU.

Laboratory services are provided by Medlab Central. Test samples from patients referred by general practitioners, specialists, midwives and other medical referrers are analysed and results provided.

The Māori health unit provides advice and support to Palmerston North Hospital on the provision of appropriate services to meet Māori health needs as well as providing support for whanāu.

The Palmerston North Hospital maternity services include:

• antenatal outpatient clinic, including a midwife-led clinic and a high-risk clinic. Various health practitioners, such as diabetic practitioners and dieticians, provide input
• practitioners such as a diabetic practitioner and dietician
• gynaecology day unit for women under 12 weeks pregnant
• antenatal day assessment unit
• delivery/birthing suite
• maternity ward with both antenatal and postnatal facilities
• lactation consultants to assist with infant feeding
• community midwifery service
• facilities for lead maternity carer (LMC's either self-employed midwives or GPs) to birth their clients and provide postnatal inpatient services
• neonatal intensive care unit for babies born after 28 weeks
• newborn hearing screening
• baby hip check and clicky hips
• Kaiawhina are available upon request for all patients.

Medical imaging is the radiology (x-ray), nuclear medicine and medical photography service at Palmerston North Hospital.

The Neonatal unit provides neonatal intensive and special care to preterm and unwell full term babies. Located at Level 1, Block C Palmerston North Hospital. Access via the main entrance.

Neurology services at Palmerston North Hospital include:

• outpatient services, including a rapid access transient ischaemic attack (TIA) clinic and a fast-track epilepsy clinic
• Inpatient care of patients with complex neurological conditions and stroke care based in the acute stroke unit
• neurophysiology, including paediatric and adult EEG, nerve conduction studies, and EMG
• MS treatment, botox, multidisciplinary motor neuron disease, neurosurgery and neuroradiology meetings as well as transition (from children to adult) neurology.

Palmerston North Hospital provides outpatient services for antenatal, gynaecology, sterilisation, colposcopy and fertility assessments.

The Regional Cancer Treatment Service (RCTS) is made up of multiple oncology teams that treat cancer.

• Medical oncology specialises in chemotherapy.
• Radiation oncology specialises in radiation therapy.
• Clinical haematology specialises in blood conditions and their treatment.

The rehabilitation service offers inpatient, some outpatient and some community services to people between the age of 16 and 64 with physical disabilities.

The aim of the service is to create positive, challenging ways for clients to achieve their maximum potential.

The Palmerston North Hospital renal unit is open 6 days a week for dialysis treatment and is committed to providing the highest quality service to people with renal failure, to encourage independence and to ensure patients have their maximum quality of life.

Respiratory services at Palmerston North Hospital include:

• an outpatient service which provides specialist respiratory medicine, respiratory nursing services, respiratory laboratory services, sleep clinic and integrated services with primary care
• inpatient care of respiratory patients.

Rheumatology services at Palmerston North Hospital include:

• an outpatient-based service
• a paediatric rheumatology clinic.

This service addresses the acute and non-acute medical (including injury), psychological, and forensic (where indicated) requirements of sexual harm victims. The aim of the service is to identify and prevent any further or escalating issues, expedite the recovery of the affected victim, and ensure all forensic and medico-legal requirements are met.

Palmerston North Hospital has stop smoking services.

Phone 06 350 9119 or be referral by hospital staff.

Palmerston North Hospital social workers provide information about support services available in the community and assist with access and liaison to those services.

There are 7 operating theatres, a post anaesthetic care unit and a day of surgery admission area at Palmerston North Hospital.

The anaesthetic services includes an intensive care unit, pain management, intravenous therapy services, and malignant hyperthermia information.

Therapy services work within the inpatient, outpatient and community settings. Services include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work, speech language therapy and psychology.

The service provides a National Vision Hearing Screening Programme to ensure the vision and hearing of individual children and adolescents at specific targeted age groups. The focus is the detection and referral for children to the appropriate agencies for assessment and or intervention. This minimizes the impact of hearing and vision problems on the child's overall development. 

Ward 24 is the orthopaedic ward, caring for patients with congenital abnormality, disease or trauma of the musculoskeletal system.

Ward 25 is dedicated for older people — age 75 or over, or 65 and over for Māori & Pasifika — with:

• an acute medical illness
• geriatric syndromes such as immobility, multi-morbidity, incontinence, dementia, polypharmacy, psychosocial problems, delirium and falls.

Ward 26 is a medical ward that cares for patients with neurological diseases, diabetes, and heart diseases. It also cares for gastroenterology patients and houses a stroke unit with a stroke team.

Ward 27 provides both acute and elective services for patients admitted to hospital for surgical subspecialty procedures and treatments.

Ward 28 caters for patients requiring a high level of nursing specialised care. ​Those conditions can range from:

• acute respiratory failure
• myocardial infarction
• surgical or medical highly dependent patient’s requiring high skilled nursing care. 

Ward 29 cares mainly for patients who are admitted to hospital for general and vascular surgery and treatment.