Palmerston North Regional Hospital is the main public hospital in Palmerston North, New Zealand. The hospital is located at the northern end of Ruahine Street, 2 km (1.2 mi) northeast of The Square. It is the main hospital run by the MidCentral District Health Board, which primarily serves Palmerston North and the surrounding Manawatū, Tararua and Horowhenua districts.
| Palmerston North Regional Hospital | |
|---|---|
| MidCentral District Health Board | |
 Palmerston North Regional Hospital main building, May 2020 | |
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Palmerston North, Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 40°20′19″S 175°37′13″E / 40.3387°S 175.6203°E |
| Organisation | |
| Funding | Public hospital |
| Type | General |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes |
| Beds | 354 |
| Helipad | ICAO: NZJM |
| History | |
| Opened | 1893 |
| Links | |
| Website | Official website |
| Lists | Hospitals in New Zealand |
The hospital has 354 inpatient beds as of 2020.[1] The hospital is a major trauma centre, one of four in the lower North Island alongside Hawke's Bay Hospital, Whanganui Hospital and Wellington Regional Hospital.[2]
History edit
The hospital first opened on 27 November 1893 with 25 inpatient beds across four wards, and was staffed by two doctors and three nurses.[3] Ellen Dougherty was the hospital's first matron; on 10 January 1902, she became the world's first registered nurse after the New Zealand Parliament passed the Nurses Registration Act 1901.[4][5][6]
In 1968, a 20-year-old male died during an operation at the hospital in New Zealand's first recorded case of malignant hyperthermia (MH), a genetic disorder which causes a severe reaction in susceptible person when exposed to certain anaesthetic agents. It was subsequently discovered the deceased man was part of a large family based in the Manawatū region that had carried the gene for many generations. As a result, around one in every 200 surgeries at Palmerston North Regional Hospital involves a MH-susceptible patient, compared to between 1:10,000 and 1:250,000 worldwide. New Zealand's first (and only) MH testing centre was set up at Massey University in 1978, and was taken over the hospital's anaesthetic department in 1986.[7][8][9]
References edit
- ^ "Palmerston North Hospital". Ministry of Health NZ. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
- ^ "New Zealand Out-of-Hospital Major Trauma Destination Policy -- Lower North Island Area" (PDF). National Trauma Network/Te Hononga Whētuki ā-Motu. February 2017.
- ^ "Palmerston North Hospital celebrates 125 years". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
- ^ "Palmerston North Hospital 125th Anniversary". www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
- ^ "World's first state-registered nurses | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
- ^ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Dougherty, Ellen". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
- ^ "Malignant Hyperthermia Background". www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
- ^ "The gene, the whaler, and 20 years of research - Massey University". www.massey.ac.nz. Massey University. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
- ^ Collins, Simon (2017-10-09). "Baby's parents' warning: Anaesthetic triggered extreme reaction". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-09-25.