The petition for one was launched by Mayor Guru 12 July and the official website for it is here.

Capital & Coast District Health Board, whose territory includes most of Kapiti (except Otaki), runs two hospitals for Kapiti people: Wellington City and to a limited extent, Kenepuru just south of Porirua.

A stuff article from the past week, however, provides no cause for optimism that a hospital for Kapiti is likely. It quotes spokeswoman Rachel Haggerty as saying:

“Increasing demand for health services, both through our hospitals and in the community, means we must invest resources in the right services, in the right place, at the right time.

“We also provide outreach services in Kapiti for around 18 specialities, as well as diagnostic services, which can be done in the community and do not require a visit to hospital.

“We are continually reassessing our region’s needs and looking at what investments we can make to ensure our communities remain well-serviced and can access the health services they require.”

Reading between the lines, this basically says no hospital.  The board is said to be highly cash strapped with what it has to run already.

But, there is another possibility: two days before Mayor Guru launched the Kapiti petition, this story in the NBR reported Wellington property developer Mark Dunajtschik’s bankrolling a new $50 million Wellington children’s hospital which will be 7,000 sq metres, three storeys tall and have 50 inpatient beds.

There are wealthy property businessmen in Kapiti who could easily make the same kind of donation, but would they?