Waikato Hospital is a major regional hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

 in Hamilton

Hamilton, New Zealand

Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It provides specialised and emergency healthcare for the Midlands and Waikato area with patients referred there from feeder hospitals like Whakatane

Whakatane

Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...

, Lakes area, Tauranga

Tauranga

Tauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...

, Thames, Tokoroa

Tokoroa

Tokoroa is the third-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato district. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the Mamaku Ranges, it is mid-way between Taupo and Hamilton on State Highway One...

 and Rotorua

Rotorua

Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...

.

Facilities

The hospital provides 600 beds and employs approximately 2,500 staff. It treats approximately 39,350 inpatients and 161,500 outpatients, and has around 3,000 births annually. Specialist services include:

Anaesthesiology Anesthesia Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away... Cardiac surgery Cardiac surgery Cardiovascular surgery is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. Frequently, it is done to treat complications of ischemic heart disease , correct congenital heart disease, or treat valvular heart disease from various causes including endocarditis, rheumatic heart...  / cardiology Cardiology Cardiology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the heart . The field includes diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology... Dermatology Dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its diseases, a unique specialty with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist takes care of diseases, in the widest sense, and some cosmetic problems of the skin, scalp, hair, and nails.... Emergency medicine Emergency medicine Emergency medicine is a medical specialty in which physicians care for patients with acute illnesses or injuries which require immediate medical attention. While not usually providing long-term or continuing care, emergency medicine physicians diagnose a variety of illnesses and undertake acute... Endocrinology Endocrinology Endocrinology is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions called hormones, the integration of developmental events such as proliferation, growth, and differentiation and the coordination of... Gastroenterology Gastroenterology Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine whereby the digestive system and its disorders are studied. The name is a combination of three Ancient Greek words gaster , enteron , and logos... General surgery General surgery General surgery, despite its name, is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal organs, e.g., intestines including esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland . They also deal with diseases involving the skin, breast, soft... Gynaecology Gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...

Haematology Hematology Hematology, also spelled haematology , is the branch of biology physiology, internal medicine, pathology, clinical laboratory work, and pediatrics that is concerned with the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases... Intensive care Intensive care medicine Intensive-care medicine or critical-care medicine is a branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and management of life threatening conditions requiring sophisticated organ support and invasive monitoring.- Overview :...  / Neonatal intensive care Neonatal intensive care unit A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit —also called a Special Care Nursery, newborn intensive care unit, intensive care nursery , and special care baby unit —is an intensive care unit specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants.The problem of premature and congenitally ill infants is not a... Neurology Neurology Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,... Neurosurgery Neurosurgery Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In... Obstetrics Obstetrics Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period... Oncology Oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer... Ophthalmology Ophthalmology Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems... Orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system...

Oral and maxillofacial surgery Oral and maxillofacial surgery Oral and maxillofacial surgery is surgery to correct a wide spectrum of diseases, injuries and defects in the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region. It is an internationally recognized surgical specialty... Otolaryngology Otolaryngology Otolaryngology or ENT is the branch of medicine and surgery that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ear, nose, throat, and head and neck disorders.... Paediatric surgery Pediatric surgery Pediatric surgery or paediatric surgery is a subspecialty of surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults... Paediatrics Pediatrics Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician... Plastic surgery Plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand... Psychology Clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development... Radiology Radiology Radiology is a medical specialty that employs the use of imaging to both diagnose and treat disease visualized within the human body. Radiologists use an array of imaging technologies to diagnose or treat diseases...

Renal Kidney The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...  care Respiratory Respiratory system The respiratory system is the anatomical system of an organism that introduces respiratory gases to the interior and performs gas exchange. In humans and other mammals, the anatomical features of the respiratory system include airways, lungs, and the respiratory muscles...  care Urological Urology Urology is the medical and surgical specialty that focuses on the urinary tracts of males and females, and on the reproductive system of males. Medical professionals specializing in the field of urology are called urologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with urological...  care Vascular surgery Vascular surgery Vascular surgery is a specialty of surgery in which diseases of the vascular system, or arteries and veins, are managed by medical therapy, minimally-invasive catheter procedures, and surgical reconstruction. The specialty evolved from general and cardiac surgery...

The centre is the main trauma facility for the area, and close connection to road and air transport (air ambulance

Air ambulance

An air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....

s, helicopter or fixed wing plane) allow patient-hospital transport in less than an hour from any place in the region.

Other services

The hospital has an academic division of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, University of Auckland

University of Auckland

The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...

, acting as a teaching and training centre for undergraduates and postgraduate medical and allied health science students. There is a dedicated training facility, the Bryant Education Centre. Research is also undertaken in cooperation with the Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre and the University of Waikato

University of Waikato

The University of Waikato is located in Hamilton and Tauranga, New Zealand, and was established in 1964. It has strengths across a broad range of subject areas, particularly its degrees in Computer Science and in Management...

.

The hospital also has five chaplain

Chaplain

Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

s who help perform social services and provide counseling, assisted by volunteers. The services are part-funded by the Ministry of Health, churches and donations. The hospital also operates 'Hilda Ross House', a hospital hotel owned by the District Health Board.

History

Sir Archibald McIndoe

Archibald McIndoe

Sir Archibald McIndoe CBE FRCS was a pioneering New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during World War II. He greatly improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew.-Background:...

, the eminent plastic surgeon, trained as a house surgeon at Waikato hospital prior to working in the US, and UK with his cousin Harold Gillies

Harold Gillies

Sir Harold Delf Gillies was a New Zealand-born, and later London based, otolaryngologist who is widely considered as the father of plastic surgery.-Personal life:Gillies was born in Dunedin, New Zealand...

.

External links

• Waikato Hospital (official hospital website from the Waikato District Health Board)