Ngati Ruanui & Maihealth Brings Innovative Health Solution to Patea
Te Runanga o Ngati Ruanui Trust (Ngati Ruanui) is pleased to be supporting a much needed solution for the Doctor
shortage in Patea. Dr Lance O’Sullivan 2014 New Zealander of the year will be providing a pop-up virtual medical service
in Patea.
This innovative and ground breaking approach utilises technology to deliver high quality basic health services virtually
with a focus on communities with high needs. The centrepiece of the technology is MAiHEALTH ™ a smart software that has
been developed by Dr O’Sullivan specifically for community based virtual health services managed by people from within
their own community.
MAiHEALTH
enables people to be connected with a cloud based health team which can result in health care in minutes rather than
hours or days. Dr Lance O’Sullivan says “The purpose of the pop-up clinic in Pātea is to demonstrate that harnessing
simple technologies in the community can result in timely access to effective healthcare for simple medical conditions”.
“Whilst the situation in Pātea can be seen as a crisis I believe we can and should see it as an opportunity to look at
new models of care”
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Kaiarataki has been critical of the current primary healthcare that is failing to deliver health
care to rural New Zealand stating, “We are focused on solutions not barriers and that may mean disrupting status quo.
Redirecting patients to already strained services is unsustainable our rural communities deserve better care, Lance is
offering an innovative solution that will challenge the existing structures and ensure quality health care reaches the
right people in the right place at the right time”.
The Service under the banner “TAKU POI E” is a pilot run with Dr Lance O’Sullivan and Ngati Ruanui and will be based in
the Patea Maori Club building where patients can be seen ‘free of charge’. Launching Monday at 10am to 3pm, the service
will run daily with support of locals trained as Digital Health facilitators.
Haimona Maruera, Chairman said Ngati Ruanui will continue to challenge what does not work for our community in South
Taranaki, nowhere else are we tangata whenua we will always have our community best interest at heart.
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