Te Manu Toroa

Western Iwi Health was established in 1997 to provide a Kaupapa Model of Health Care that linked and integrated services to Maori in the Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Katikati and Te Puke rohe (s), known as the Western Bay of Plenty. 

Evaluation from a Feasibility Study demonstrated alarming statistics throughout the rohe, Mai Nga Kuri a Wharei ki te Waitaha nui a Hei.  Provision of GP Services took first precedence with low cost consultation costs and pharmacy costs.  Establishing the GP clinics opened the doors for our people.  We were able to provide easy accessibility, offer affordability, and make available a culturally appropriate setting.  The GP Surgery’s are strategically placed throughout the district to enable our people the opportunity to utilise these facilities, ease of accessibility.  In conjunction with offering our people the GP Service’s, we aligned ourselves with forming a partnership to Contracted Pharmacies in order to reduce prescription costs.

 

The GP Clinics are situated at:

Tauranga Moana City Clinic - Tauranga City

Te Akau Hauora - Papamoa

Waitaha Hauora - Te Puke

 

The Pharmacies are located at:

Faulkners Pharmacy - Tauranga City

Greg’s Pharmacy - Tauranga City

Palm Beach Pharmacy - Papamoa

Faulkners Pharmacy - Te Puke


The enormous scope of our people’s needs provided for developments in other areas.  The area of growth initiated further delivery of services to include Dental Services, Mental Health Services, Health Promotion, Tamariki Ora, Whanau Care and Support, Facilitation, Mobile Maori Disease State Management Nursing Service, Smoking Cessation, Asthma Education and more recently the commencement of Kaupapa Maori Advanced Rural Nurses, who are on the pathway to Nurse Practitioner status. Our oral health services have expanded to service Te Kohanga Reo and Rangatahi up to 18 years of age via a mobile dental unit, which TMT were fortunate to have built and funded by the Ministry of Health. We are also fortunate to open an adult dental service.

Development and growth became evident to our Kaumatua.  A name change befitting the people and the rohe we serve unfolded.  Kaumatua from our 5 Iwi sanctioned us with a new name,
 

Te Manu Toroa (the albatross which glides the ocean). 

Te Manu Toroa (TMT) has an enrolled patient and client population of over 10,000.

As a Maori Collective TMT is aligned to Nga Mataapuna Oranga PHO