Middlemore Hospital is a major public hospital in the suburb of
Otahuhu,
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand. The hospital has approximately 800 beds. There are 24 operating theatres across two sites.
History
In 1943, during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, construction commenced on a 300-bed hospital at Otahuhu near the Middlemore golf course. It was built to accommodate sick and injured servicemen from the war in the Pacific and known as the Otahuhu Military Hospital. Construction took three years but by 1945, when the war in the Pacific had ended, there was no need for a military hospital and it became a civilian hospital, administered by the Auckland Hospital Board.
The Auckland Hospital Board decided in 1944 that the hospital would be known as Middlemore Hospital, the name of the Thompson family farm close to where the hospital was built, referencing a family member from the 18th Century.
The hospital officially opened on 3 May 1947.
Dr H.J.A. Colvin was appointed medical superintendent and Miss O.M. Hollan as matron in 1947.
A plastic surgery unit was established initially under the surgeons
Percy Pickerill and
Cecily Pickerill
Dame Cecily Mary Wise Pickerill (née Clarkson, 9 February 1903 – 21 July 1988) was a New Zealand plastic surgeon who specialised in treating infants with cleft palates and other conditions needing plastic surgery. She successfully demonstr ...
who commuted from Wellington from 1947 to 1950; they were followed by William Manchester (who had trained with
Archibald McIndoe
Sir Archibald Hector McIndoe (4 May 1900 – 11 April 1960) was a New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew.
Early life
Archi ...
), John Peat (an orthodontist), Michael Flint (who had trained with
Harold Gillies
Sir Harold Delf Gillies (17 June 1882 – 10 September 1960) was a New Zealand otolaryngologist and father of modern plastic surgery.
Early life
Gillies was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, the son of Member of Parliament in Otago, Robert Gillies ...
) and Joan Chapple.
Middlemore Hospital is the largest hospital in Auckland, with around 4,700 staff providing treatment to more than 91,000 inpatients and over 354,000 outpatients per year (data from 2007).
[Middlemore Hospital](_blank)
(database entry on 'healthpoint.co.nz' website. Retrieved 24 February 2008.) The Emergency Department (ED) is the busiest mixed (adult / paediatric) ED in Australasia, with an annual census of 98,110 patients in 2011, and the rate of presentations to ED increasing at a rate of 5–8% per annum. In 2014, Middlemore Hospital treated more general surgical patients than any other hospital in the country (11,500 patients, or over 32 admissions per day), with approximately 75% of those being emergency presentations. This number has also been rising steadily over the past few years and makes the hospital the busiest emergency general surgical hospital in the country. It is also known to care for an above-average share of expecting mothers, staff generally delivering over 20 babies per day.
Operations
Middlemore is operated by
Counties Manukau Health, offering tertiary hospital and specialist care, as well as a range of other health and social services, for the population of Counties Manukau. The defined catchment area stretches from
Otahuhu to
Port Waikato
Port Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand.
Port Waikato is a well-known surfing and whitebaiting destination and a popular holiday spot. Fish can be caught off the rocks ...
, and has a population of 525,120 people. The population in this area of Auckland continues to expand at a faster rate than the rest of the country (3.2% per year), and this, in conjunction with increasing population age, is expected to require an expansion of inpatient bed numbers to over 1,500 by 2020.
Inpatient services are also provided at several affiliated facilities: Manukau Surgery Centre, Kidz First Children's Hospital, Pukekohe Hospital, Franklin Memorial Hospital, Botany Downs Maternity Unit and Papakura Maternity Unit as well as dedicated mental health and rehabilitation units. Outpatient services are primarily provided at Manukau SuperClinic and Botany SuperClinic. Tertiary specialisations include
general surgery
General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid ...
, vascual surgery,
orthopaedic
Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...
surgery, oral and
maxillofacial surgery, burns and
plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofa ...
,
dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...
, as well as specialised medicine,
rehabilitation
Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:
Health
* Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished
* Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...
,
renal dialysis
Kidney dialysis (from Greek , , 'dissolution'; from , , 'through', and , , 'loosening or splitting') is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions natura ...
, and
neonatal
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
intensive care.
Performance
An investigation into the death of a patient in the emergency department on 15 June 2022 concluded that the department was unsafe for both patients and its staff. On that night it was at least 30% over-capacity - but this was “…not an isolated day.”
Margie Apa
Fepulea'i Margie Apa (born 1973/1974) is a New Zealand healthcare manager and head of Te Whatu Ora, the health authority which came into operation in July 2022. Of Samoan descent she was the first Samoan to be head of a district health board.
...
of
Te Whatu Ora
Te Whatu Ora, or Health New Zealand, is a public health agency established by the New Zealand Government to replace the country's 20 district health boards (DHBs) on 1 July 2022. Te Whatu Ora is charged with working alongside the Public Health ...
accepted the conclusions of the report.
New facilities
![Rangitoto and Auckland 31-03-2012 14-03-10 - cropped to Middlemore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Rangitoto_and_Auckland_31-03-2012_14-03-10_-_cropped_to_Middlemore.png)
New Clinical Services Block (Harley Gray Building)
A new five-storey clinical services block was formally opened in April 2014 at a cost of NZ$190 million. This includes: 14 new operating theatres, a 38-cot neonatal care unit, a 42-bed medical assessment unit, a 23-bed post-anaesthetic care unit, a 20-bed theatre admission and discharge unit, and a state-of-the-art central sterile supply department. The building was named after orthopaedic surgeon Harley Gray who was an orthopaedic surgeon at Middlemore until 2001 and was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2003.
Ko Awatea
The Ko Awatea Centre was built in 2011 at a cost of NZ$10 million with a mandate to lead an innovative approach to achieving sustainable, high-quality healthcare services. It was designed to be a hub of education, improvement and innovation to support health systems and public services – foremost to support Counties Manukau Health, but also locally, nationally and internationally. Ko Awatea is also a centre of education dedicated to meeting the needs of students, CMH staff and visitors through education, leadership and professional development. The name, Ko Awatea, means ‘first light'. The name was gifted from tangata whenua, indicative of the value that Maori place on Ko Awatea and its role in CMH.
Edmund Hillary Block
The Edmund Hillary Block is a six-storey in-patient building built in 2009 that added 240 in-patient beds, and 12,600m2 of space to the Middlemore Campus. It included: a 15-bed mental health services for older people ward, a 30 -bed plastics ward, 2 x 30 – bed surgical wards, 2 x 30 – bed medical wards, a 30-bed gastroenterology ward, a cardiac investigation unit, a medical short stay unit, a haematology day ward and clinic, allied health offices and gymnasium, a new staff cafeteria, and the clinical equipment pool and orthotics.
Intensive Care Unit
In June 2008, a new intensive care unit was commissioned for NZ$6.4 million, described as New Zealand's most advanced. The unit provides 18 beds instead of the previous 7, and capacity will be for treatment of about 1,000 patients per year. The unit also has a shower room to bathe patients confined to their beds as well as two pressure rooms for treatment of patients with transmissible infections (or those especially vulnerable to them). Also improved were the available storage spaces, allowing more room for patients, family and working staff.
National Burn Centre
In June 2006, the hospital opened its new specialised burns treatment ward, the National Burn Centre. Dr Richard Wong She, plastic & reconstructive surgeon, has been clinical leader since its opening. The facility cost NZ$7.2 million to construct and equip, and is the base of operations for the National Burn Service which cares for the most severely burn-injured patients from both the local region and around the country (approx. 400 local and regional burn cases per year).
Affiliated facilities
Manukau Surgery Centre
The Manukau Surgery Centre provides day surgery services and elective and acute arranged surgery for patients who are not expected to need access to intensive care or interventional radiology. The Surgery Centre has 10 operating theatres, 2 procedure rooms and 78 inpatient beds. Surgery performed includes: orthopaedic surgery including joint replacement; general surgery; colorectal surgery; breast surgery including breast reconstruction; gynaecological procedures; plastic surgery; ORL/ ENT and ophthalmology.
Manukau SuperClinic
The Manukau SuperClinic™ (MSC) provides specialist outpatient appointments and day procedures. Services provided in each Module are:
* Module 1: Orthopaedics
* Module 2: Anaesthetics Pre-Admission & Laboratory
* Module 3: Otolaryngology (ENT) & Audiology
* Module 4: Paediatric Medicine
* Module 5: Plastic & Hand Surgery
* Module 6: Ophthalmology & Paediatric Ophthalmology
* Module 7: Neurology, General Medicine & Medical Sub-Specialties and Oncology
* Module 8 & 9: General Surgery, Vascular, Breast & Mammography Service and Chronic Pain
* Module 10: Women's Health, Urology & General Surgery Pre-admission
Kidz First Children's Hospital
The Kidz First Children's Hospital is purpose built to deliver family centred health care and serve the culturally diverse Counties Manukau community.
Services provided at Kidz First Children's Hospital include:
* Paediatric inpatient surgical care – acute and elective orthopaedic, plastics (including specialist Paediatric Burns Unit) and otorhinolaryngeal.
* Paediatric inpatient medical care – acute paediatric specialist medical service.
* Child protection service – medical assessment, consultation, support, education and liaison with all agencies with regards to child abuse/protection issues.
South Auckland Clinical Campus
The South Auckland Clinical Campus (SACC) based in Middlemore Hospital, is an academic division of
The University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. The Campus coordinates clinical teaching and research in partnership with the Counties Manukau Health, and has established research groups focusing on Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, Integrated Care, Medical Education, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pacific Women's Health and Plastic Surgery.
References
External links
Counties Manukau District Health Board(official body responsible for the hospital)
International Burn Support Groups/Organisations and Burn Camps Databaseheld in
Auckland Libraries
Auckland Libraries is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the largest public-library network in the Southern He ...
' heritage collections.
{{Coord, -36.9629, 174.8397, display=title, format=dms
Hospital buildings completed in 1947
Buildings and structures in Auckland
Teaching hospitals in New Zealand
Hospitals established in 1947
1947 establishments in New Zealand
Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board Area