Focusing on ophthalmology and endoscopy, a new private surgical centre, Kāpiti Day Hospital, is set to open its doors in June.
Backed by a group of local surgeons, optometrists and businesspeople, the day surgery fills a gap in the region, providing services to a growing local community, in particular residents of the many newly established retirement villages, said CEO Kate Wang. In eyecare, the hospital will initially focus on providing cataract surgery to the local population, who currently have to travel to Wellington for procedures, she said. “Located at Te Roto Drive, it’s very conveniently close to the off ramp to Transmission Gully motorway, with lots of parking space.”
Currently being fitted out, the day surgery will have two theatres and two recovery rooms, plus two consult rooms, two pre-meeting rooms and a central sterile-services department. The main recovery room will cater for cataract patients, with up to five recovery bays. “It’s pretty generous,” said Wang. “We also have state-of-the-art equipment, including New Zealand’s first Zeiss Quatera 700 phacoemulsification system to cater to the surgeons joining us.” Drs Reece Hall, Steve Mackey and Neil Aburn are already confirmed as members of the Kāpiti Day Hospital team, with more ophthalmologists to be announced.
When asked if there are further centres in the pipeline, Wang said her primary focus was to get the Kāpiti surgery up and running and offering a quality service to the local community. “Gradually we will consider adding other specialties with suitable day procedures, but for now we’re very excited to open our doors and are lucky to have many locals joining us as staff.”
