2001 - Whangarei Hospital Centenary

On 31 March 2001 – the then Prime Minister Helen Clark attended the Whangarei Hospital Centenary and spoke very highly of Northland Area Health Board as it was known then.

“The centenary of Whangarei Hospital is a significant milestone in Northland history. The history of this hospital is indeed the history of the peoples of Whangarei and of the wider Northland district. It is also the history of the shifting sands of central government policy towards the health system.

When Whangarei Hospital was first built, Whangarei itself was a very isolated town. It had no proper road or rail connection. People used to come up from Auckland by coastal steamer. Whangarei had been growing from the 1850s, and traders came in to service the needs of those who were working very rich gum fields around the area.

I first came to first know the Northland Area Health Board and Whangarei Hospital when I became Minister of Health in 1989. Dr Donald Beasley was the chairman. I have always had great respect for him and for what the Northland public health system was achieving at that time.

Dr Beasley and the Board embraced the philosophy of the Area Health Board Act wholeheartedly. They involved local communities in their working, and they had a very strong commitment to keeping health services dispersed throughout the Northland district”

When Donald Beasley passed away on 27 December 2017 at the age of 97, he left behind a legacy of commitment to improving health for children and the disabled.