Lady Tureiti Moxon and Sir David Moxon. Photo: Supplied
By Pokere Paewai
Work is set to begin on a $15 million community health centre in Hamilton which will bring preventative care to Māori.
Te Kōhao Health managing director Lady Tureiti Moxon said that many Māori are receiving care too late and dying too early.
"Too many of our people even today are dying prematurely of preventative diseases, and in particular, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, cervical cancer, bowel cancer and lung cancer," she said.
The centre would help to see patients at the front end of their disease rather than when they were already in crisis, Moxon said.
It was important for Māori to have tino rangatiratanga over their own health, she said.
"We can go into partnerships with others but we've got to be in the drivers seat for all these kinds of initiatives, because otherwise we're being done to, instead of doing for ourselves.
"That's a really key message that I want to give to everybody, because being done to actually hasn't and doesn't help us.
The site of the future buildings is currently surrounded by an eye-catching perimeter of carved pou.
The unveiling of the 28 pou came just ahead of earthworks officially starting.
Moxon said that the pou will let everyone know that this is a community-led project.
Head carver Rei Mihaere said seeing the Pou lined up reminded him of a Pā site.
The building has secured building and resource management consent and will be completed by Christmas 2023.
To date no government funding has been received but Moxon would like to see that happen.
"Nau mai haere mai ki te āwhina, ki te tautoko i te kaupapa.
"Come and help us to support this very important initiative, so that we can start to see the changes that we often hear about but actually have never been able to participate in."
Work is set to begin on a $15 million community health centre in Hamilton, which will bring preventative care to Māori. Photo: Supplied