BOPDHB History Whakatāne Hospital History Book | Page 58

A view from Stewart Street taken in 1973 showing the Dawson Block (1963) on the left, the
Hospital Chapel (1967) to the right and the Godfrey Santon Block, (behind) under construction.
Photo: Bay of Plenty District Health Board Archive

The Conference Centre, built pre-1923
Te Huinga o Ngā Kura - the Conference Centre, was originally located behind the main block
between the (1941) Nurses’ Home to the east and the (1963) multi-storey Nurses’ Home to the
west. In December 2010 the Centre building was cut in half, moved and reassembled as part of
the new Clinical School on the north-west corner of the Hospital site. Each of the rooms has been
given appropriate names of New Zealand native trees. These are Akatea, Pohutukawa, Kowhai and
Rata. The new Clinical School (including the Conference Centre and Library) and the Regional Māori
Health Buildings were officially opened by the Hon Anne Tolley, Member of Parliament for the East
Coast, on 1 April 2011.

The Conference Centre beside the 1963 Nurses’ Home and, in 2011, as part of the new Clinical School/Library/Māori Health
complex close to Stewart Street. Photos: Author’s personal collection, 2011

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