Kaikōura Family Bare All To Support New Patient Accommodation

08 October

The South Island’s largest patient accommodation facility is just about complete, and a new campaign is kicking off today to help get the doors open.

Fronting the campaign is Kylie and Brendon Raine with their boys Jackson (8) and Zach (4). This Kaikōura family have stepped into the limelight so more families can access what they call their “lifesaver”.

Bone Marrow Cancer Trust, which owns and operates Rānui House in Christchurch, will open Rānui Apartments next month, 14 years after land for the development was purchased. The 43-apartment complex will nearly triple the Trust’s capacity to offer accommodation and support to patients and families undergoing life-changing medical treatment.

The Raine family stayed at Rānui House while Kylie and her family have gone through a “rollercoaster” of health battles.

“When going through those horrible hospital times having a lovely home to go to at Rānui House meant so much to us all,” Kylie says.

Bone Marrow Cancer Trust CEO Mandy Kennedy says for families like the Raine family, Rānui Apartments can’t come soon enough.

“Every day we are in the unfortunate position of having to turn families away because we are full. It’s heartbreaking,” Mandy says.

In 2023, Rānui House served 1,011 patients and their whānau for a total of 8,004 bed nights. Some families stay for weeks, others for months. However, 664 families were turned away because the House was full.

“This is just the unmet demand we know about. Many more times travel bookers or families don’t even try to book in as they know we have no room,” Mandy says.

Kylie first stayed at Rānui House in September 2023 after having a double mastectomy and implant surgery at Christchurch Hospital. She’d found out she had the BRCA gene a few years earlier, after a cousin researched why Kylie’s dad’s side of the family was “riddled” with breast cancer.

But with a complex medical history, Kylie had a feeling all wouldn’t go as planned. She was right. What should have been one surgery turned into three, and she still has at least one surgery to go.

Kylie and husband Brendon says Rānui House was their “saving grace”. So far they have stayed there for a total of 44 nights across five different visits.

Kylie says they know just how vital it is to get the doors of Rānui Apartments open.

“When I get my surgery dates the first call I make is to Rānui House to make sure they have space for me, as I know every day they have to turn families away. Knowing Rānui Apartments is opening brings me such relief as it means more families like ours will get the support and care that Rānui provides.”

National Travel Assistance Coordinator for Health NZ Southern region Steven Fyfe says Rānui Apartments will be a gamechanger for the high number of patients who are referred out of the region for treatment.

“The availability of suitable accommodation in Christchurch is a real issue for us. Rānui House is in hot demand due to its incredible facilities, staff and location, but the reality is over the last few years it’s been harder and harder to get people in there.

“Rānui provides more than four walls and a bed. It’s a real home-away-from-home for those who need to travel for medical treatment. The expansion into Rānui Apartments will be a great windfall for Otago and Southland patients and families.”

Bronwyn Vercoe is one of two National Travel Assistance Coordinators for the West Coast. She says going “over the hill” for treatment puts many Coasters out of their comfort zone.

“People are already vulnerable having to travel for care, and then they have their health to contend with. Rānui makes that journey easier. It’s location close to the hospital is amazing and the staff and volunteers make people feel wanted, welcome, and safe.

“I would book Rānui House every day if I could, but many days we just can’t get people in.”

Bronwyn says hearing Rānui Apartments is close to opening is music to her ears.

“The development of Rānui Apartments is wonderful news for the West Coast. I just can’t wait for it to open.”

The opening of Rānui Apartments will make the Bone Marrow Cancer Trust the largest provider of patient accommodation in the South Island, while remaining the only provider that serves patients and families no matter their age or treatment type.

Mandy Kennedy says the fact anyone is welcome at Rānui is an incredible relief to the families they serve.

“Our families are often going through their darkest hours. We know when families are together, they heal faster, and the home-away-from-home we provide has an enormous impact on their wellbeing.”

Christchurch Hospital is the largest tertiary, teaching and research hospital in the South Island and has the busiest Emergency Department in Australasia, treating more than 83,000 patients per year. This, coupled with the increasing centralisation of specialist health services at Christchurch Hospital, is fuelling demand for patient accommodation.

Funds raised through the Rānui Apartments “Time Together” campaign, launching today, will support the opening of Rānui Apartments. At a cost of $18.3 million, the Rānui Apartments development has been funded thanks to considerable fundraising by the Bone Marrow Cancer Trust, the generosity of private donors and grant providers, as well as being supported by the NZ Government Shovel Ready Project Initiative.

“Since the dream of Rānui Apartments was born 14 years ago costs have escalated dramatically. Like many major building projects, the closer we get to the end, the thinner the line gets between being in the red and the black.

“We have received incredible support to get this far, and we ask our community to give generously to help us get the doors of Rānui Apartments open. Together, we can fulfil our mission of never having to turn away a patient or family in need.”

To donate to Rānui’s ‘Time Together’ campaign go to www.ranuiapartments.org.nz.

About Rānui Apartments

The opening of Rānui Apartments is only possible thanks to the foresight of the Bone Marrow Cancer Trust. The Trust purchased the land on which the Apartments sit in 2010, after realising Christchurch was increasingly becoming the primary centre for tertiary care in the South Island, meaning more and more families would be facing the challenge of travelling to the city for life-changing medical care.

Resource consent for the apartment complex was granted in 2017 with onsite construction starting in 2021.

Rānui Apartments consists of two buildings providing 43 apartments. The complex includes a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments, along with studio rooms. Rānui Apartments has been designed with flexibility in mind to allow for multiple room configurations to best meet the needs of patients and families.

All apartments offer ensuites with laundry facilities shared between two apartments. Four of the apartments have been designed for special access.

The ground floor features a reception, communal lounge, communal kitchen and a terrace area. Car parking is available on site, including EV charging stations.

The opening of Rānui Apartments will enable the Bone Marrow Cancer Trust to provide another 15,695 bed nights annually.

Treatment types for those who stay at Rānui House are; Haematology 31% of patients, followed by Oncology 16%, Orthopaedics 8%, Nephrology 7%, Cardiology and General Surgery 6%, Neurology 5%, ICU and Gastro 4% and other 13% (CHOC, NICU, Urology, Hyperbaric, Woman’s, Nuclear Medicine).

Typically, the patients/families we serve come from the South Island - Canterbury 31%, West Coast 24%, Otago 14%, Southland 10%, Nelson 7%, Marlborough 4%, Tasman 1% and 8% from the North Island with 1% from the Chatham Islands.

About the Bone Marrow Cancer Trust

The Bone Marrow Cancer Trust was established in 1990 to raise $1.1 million to establish New Zealand’s first Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Christchurch Hospital.

Soon after opening the unit the Trustees set about raising funds to provide accommodation for the patients and their families who would be travelling to Christchurch for treatment. They knew if families can stay together, they can heal faster. The Trust opened Rānui House in 1993 with six apartments, which was increased to nine apartments two years later. Demand soon outstripped supply and in 2008, the House was extended to offer the 26 semi or fully self-contained apartments that we have today.

Rānui House supports patients and their families no matter their age or medical treatment type, providing accommodation, support, and meals, where required. Patients can be hospital inpatients or outpatients and can stay at Rānui House as long as they need. The Trust also funds life-saving and world-class cancer research through its annual grants programme via the Bone Marrow Cancer Research Trust.

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