As Central Otago and the Upper Clutha face mounting health-service inequities and rapid population growth, a new charitable trust has been launched to protect and expand the region’s publicly funded, but community owned, rural hospital.

Demand for this critical service has grown rapidly, and over the past year we’ve worked with the HNZ Gastroenterology team in Dunedin to expand capacity from one to three clinic days per month, ensuring more people across Central Otago and the wider southern region can access care closer to home.

In a region defined by distance, community, and rugged landscapes, healthcare looks a little different. For many people in Central Otago, the most important care they’ll receive doesn’t happen inside a hospital, it happens at home.

As Clinical Director at Dunstan Hospital, Dr Jonathon Wills leads with calm clarity and deep care. After a decade of service, he took a sabbatical to Rarotonga to explore renewal, balance, and purposeful leadership.

Each year, Dunstan delivers an expanding number of specialist services. Demand is growing rapidly, as People and Specialist Services Director Catherine Haig explains.

From gold rush beginnings to its role today as a rural lifeline, Dunstan Hospital’s story is one of grit, generosity, and community leadership, a 160-year legacy now carried forward by the Dunstan Hospital Foundation.

Visitors to Dunstan Hospital are greeted by beautifully maintained grounds, green lawns and tidy gardens reflecting the care within. Few realise this is thanks to a special partnership with Fulton Hogan that has quietly flourished for a decade.

For more than a century, Dunstan Hospital has been caring for the people of Central Otago. Clinical Director Dr Jonathon Wills, shares how that legacy is evolving to meet the needs of a growing region.

As an oncologist working with patients across Otago and Southland, Dr Blair McLaren knows how difficult a cancer diagnosis can be, not just for patients, but for their families.

When Cromwell local Chris Flannery was told he had stage four melanoma, life changed overnight. What began as a routine mole removal quickly turned into major surgery and two years of ongoing treatment.

As the Patron of the Dunstan Hospital Foundation, Sam is helping ensure that world-class care remains close to home for everyone in Central Otago.

For more than a decade, Annette has been the friendly force behind one of Dunstan Hospital’s most vital community services , Meals on Wheels. From her base in Alexandra, she coordinates a small army of volunteers who deliver not only hot meals, but also warmth, connection, and care to people across Central Otago.