Waitākere Hospital upgrade of baby care unit welcomed

A desperately-needed rebuild of Waitakere Hospital's 15 year-old premature baby unit will allow more babies to be treated and their often overwhelmed parents to stay overnight. In recent months, the West Auckland hospital has been forced to send premature and sick babies to Taranaki and Northland, and even Australia for treatment because its 12 cots have been full. But there is little taxpayer money going into its new six million dollar Special Care Baby Unit - most of the tab is being picked up by the official charity supporting the district's hospitals.