About Us



Tohu

Waiora Healthcare has adopted a stylised kotuku (heron) as its Tohu. This artwork showing the Kotuku leaving a pond in flight was created by the Tainui artist and carver Fred Graham. The kotuku is a bird indigenous to the Te Atatu Peninsula and its movement reflects growth and empowerment.

Our Values / Mission

Te Whakatauki

"Mehemea ka moemoea ahau ko ahau anake,
Mehemea ka moemoea a tatou, ka taea tatou"

(Te Puea)
"Together great things are possible".

VALUES

  • Tika/Pono – Acting with integrity, honesty and in a manner which is fair and just to our communities.
  • Respect – Being respectful to all parties, especially our patients and their families.
  • Equity – Understanding and addressing the need to acquire and deliver the greatest amount of resources to those with the greatest levels of need.
  • Tino Rangatiratanga – Acknowledging and promoting whanau empowerment.
  • Quality/Excellence – Providing the highest standard of care and services possible, in a manner that is befi tting for our communities and their unique cultural and social needs.
  • Whanau Ora – Understanding the importance of addressing patients’ health care needs as part of a broader whanau/family context.

MISSION
To improve the health of our communities by:

  • Ensuring that the people we serve have ready access to culturally and socially relevant, low cost health care services, when they need them.
  • Recognising the importance of collective, indigenous models of wellbeing to the creation of positive health outcomes for our communities.
  • Continuing to build management and operational practices that reflect our cultural and social values.
  • Valuing all people we deal with, particularly our patients, their families and our employees.
  • Striving to find new and better ways of responding to the needs of our communities.

How It All Started / Te Timatanga

When Waiora Healthcare Trust was formed in March 2003, it brought together two well-established health providers; Te Whanau o Waipareira Trust (Wai Health), an urban Maori authority, and the Waitakere Union Health Centre, originally formed by the Service and Food Workers Union and the Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union.

Their vision was to provide quality, affordable health services to the high needs communities in Waitakere, through a not-for-profit community owned and operated Primary Health Organisation (PHO). Waiora’s commitment to providing high quality, affordable health care has proven extremely popular within the Waitakere community.

Today our health centres are free for anyone to join and costs are low to ensure everyone in our communities can afford to see a doctor or nurse. Our growth has been exciting – today we have 8 member practices and we quadrupled our enrolled population within just 5 years. Today we are the largest low-cost PHO in the Waitemata district.

Strategic Intent Vision 2020

What we are aiming for in our community is:

  • Increased life expectancy of target populations
  • Improved access to health services including GP/ nurse services, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and specialist services, with a focus on the medically underserved populations
  • Transformation of primary care to address population health gain priorities by removing health inequalities
  • Management of long term conditions
  • Increased delivery of health services through primary care/community contracts
  • Credibility within the Waitakere community
  • Reputation for Maori leadership and values
  • Significant inter-sectorial policy influence
  • A sustainable workforce
  • Integration between secondary and primary services
  • Affordable after hours services\
  • Reduction in avoidable hospitalisations.
Go to the Strategic Vision page