We are delighted to advise that we have been working with the Health New Zealand (HNZ) Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) Service in Dunedin and have opened a new service at Dunstan Hospital.

This year marks a remarkable milestone for Trevor Lloyd, one of Dunstan Hospital’s senior clinicians. Trevor has just renewed his medical registration for the 50th time, with 26 of those years spent caring for patients at Dunstan Hospital.

Kaiamio stands to remind us that even when we are faced with immense adversity, with the support of Whanau and the Whanau of Dunstan Hospital the people of the land can feel at ease, they have expertise at hand, a place to rest if needed and the facilities to cope with the Taniwha that arise.

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.

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.

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.