Kia ora koutou.
Last month we introduced you to our education and community development division, which is one of the key work areas of Hokonui Runanga.
Therefore, this month we decided it was time to introduce you to another important area of mahi for us — our health and social services division.
In 2001, then Tapanui GP, the late Dr Peter Snow, had a vision.
He wanted to provide affordable health care and social service support for local Maori.
Thus, not long after, our health and social services entity was established, running on Maori health contracts.
Now, in 2022, we have eight kaimahi (staff) in this division, working towards Dr Snow’s vision.
We have a community health worker, a community connector, a Whanau Ora navigator and many other passionate and committed individuals who make the team function as a whole.
We provide a nurse practitioner, who comes into the runanga and offers free weekly clinics. This includes but is not limited to: access to a dietitian, a podiatrist, cervical smears, blood sugar and blood pressures checks and weight monitoring.
We have a kaumatua health day once a week, when our kaumatua (elders) visit us and are given free health advice, a free healthy lunch, games and activities and housing.
Taurite Tu, an Accident Compensation Corporation pilot, is also offered weekly for our kaumatua, helping them to maintain their strength and balance.
For our tamariki we have kohanga. This is when, once a month, Gore Health supplies us with a GP to complete health checks for our young ones if they require it.
Our next project in the works is to provide our members with a social support worker as well.
None of these programmes would exist without the mahi and hard-working people hiding behind the scenes, who do all of this and more because they know, like all of us, that we are nothing without our health.
Na tou rourou me toku rourou ka ora ai te iwi.
With your food basket and my food basket the people will flourish.
Me mahi tahi tatou.
Let us work as one.
