Dreaming of a Māori hospital: Mehemea, ka moemoea ahau, ko ahau anake. Mehemea, ka moemoea tātou, ka taea e tātou.

Abstract

This article makes a case for Māori organisations to investigate developing hospitals in addition to hauora primary care services. Our programme of research on kaumātua hauora has involved ten noho wānanga in Te Tai Tokerau, Waikato and Tauranga Moana. During our wānanga and associated kānohi-ki-kānohi interviews, we heard from older Māori who experienced hospital stays as detrimental to their wellbeing. At a whakahoki kōrero with Waikato kaumātua, we were requested to investigate the rationale for a Māori hospital, a wish that has historical roots in Princess Te Puea Herangi's efforts to create a small hospital at Tūrangawaewae Marae. Her project was stymied by the health authorities of the time. Our observations are backed up by other research demonstrating adverse outcomes for Māori at New Zealand's public hospitals. A small international literature offers some pointers for success in developing hospitals for Indigenous populations. While there are many aspects that would need thorough investigation in a development process (e.g., tikanga, scope, sites, architecture, development finance, cost structures, staffing, clientele and accessibility), we argue that hospitals developed by and for Māori are a long-held dream that could well be enacted in today's health service environment.