Starship Children's Health

This article is about Starship Children's Health. For other similarly named hospitals, see Children's Hospital (disambiguation).
Starship Children's Health

Southern entrance of the hospital.
Geography
Location Auckland City, Auckland Region, New Zealand
Organisation
Care system Auckland District Health Board
Hospital type Teaching, specialist
Services
Emergency department Yes
Beds 219
History
Founded 1991
Links
Website www.starship.org.nz
Lists Hospitals in New Zealand

Starship Children's Health, opened in 1991, is one of the first purpose-built children's hospitals in New Zealand, and the largest such facility in the country.[1][2] While a separate facility, it is located on the same Grafton-area grounds of Auckland City Hospital in Auckland City and adjacent to the Auckland Medical School.

Starship Children's Health treats over 86,000 patients a year (2005/2006 financial year), around a quarter of them inpatients.[1] Starship is also a major medical teaching centre, leading New Zealand in paediatric training and research. The hospital received the 2005 New Zealand Health Innovations Awards for its medication safety programs.[1]

Facilities

Main Starship building atrium looking up from the inner courtyard.
Main Starship building atrium from the top.

Character

The main Starship building opened on 18 November 1991 on the grounds of Auckland City Hospital. Its name was chosen to appeal to children and young people and to reflected the building's design. The building has a central atrium lit by natural light and designed to a rainforest theme with a playground. Each of its five levels is painted a different colour, with a symbolic meaning: Aqua for the Pacific Ocean; Orange for land; Blue for sky; Yellow for sunshine; and Pink for health.[1]

Medical

Facilities include inpatient and outpatient services as well as community-based services such as Community Child Health and Disability Service, Safekids and Paediatric Home Care. The building has nine wards and a capacity of 219 beds. Besides the main building, Starship has outpatient clinics for the Auckland region in Tamaki, West Auckland and North Shore City, as well as being associated with approximately 45 Outreach Clinics throughout the country.[1]

Other

The volunteer group Radio Lollipop operate in a hospital radio station, as well as visiting children with games and entertainment in the evenings. The hospital includes a number of food outlets and a convenience store. Previously, it also had a McDonald's franchise, but this was closed in 2005 after 8 years of operation, with the company citing a very marginal operation as the main reason. Some anti-obesity campaigners had also considered the fast-food restaurant as providing a wrong message, though the franchise noted that it had extended its menu beyond its normal selection to include such choices as cereal.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Coming to Starship (from the official hospital website, retrieved 2007-07-27)
  2. ↑ "Starship to resume surgery". Television New Zealand. 14 August 2001. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  3. ↑ Walsh, Rebecca (2 April 2005). "McDonald's discharges itself after eight years at Starship". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 November 2011.

Coordinates: 36°51′35″S 174°46′12″E / 36.859605°S 174.769934°E / -36.859605; 174.769934

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