Starship Children's Health
Encyclopedia
Starship Children's Health, opened in 1991, is one of the first purpose-built children's hospital
s in New Zealand
, and the largest such facility in the country. While a separate facility, it is located on the same Grafton
-area grounds of Auckland City Hospital
in Auckland City
and adjacent to the Auckland Medical School
.
Starship Children's Health treats over 86,000 patients a year (2005/2006 financial year), around a quarter of them in patient
s. Starship is also a major medical teaching centre, leading New Zealand in paediatric training and research. The hospital received the 2005 New Zealand Health Innovations Awards for its medication safety programs.
Character
The main Starship building opened on 18 November 1991 on the grounds of Auckland City Hospital. Its name was chosen to appeal to children and young people and to reflected the building's design. The building has a central atrium
lit by natural light and designed to a rainforest theme with a playground. Each of its five levels is painted a different colour, with a symbolic meaning: Aqua
for the Pacific Ocean
; Orange
for land; Blue
for sky; Yellow
for sunshine; and Pink
for health.
Medical
Facilities include inpatient and outpatient services as well as community based services such as Community Child Health and Disability Service, Safekids and Paediatric Home Care. The building has nine wards and a capacity of 219 beds. Besides the main building, Starship has outpatient clinics for the Auckland region in Tamaki
, West Auckland
and North Shore City, as well as being associated with approximately 45 Outreach Clinics throughout the country.
Other
The volunteer group Radio Lollipop
operate a in hospital radio station, as well as visiting children with games and entertainment in the evenings. The hospital includes a number of food outlets and a convenience store. Previously, it also had a McDonald's
franchise, but this was closed in 2005 after 8 years of operation, with the company citing a very marginal operation as the main reason. Some anti-obesity
campaigners had also considered the fast-food restaurant as providing a wrong message, though the franchise noted that it had extended its menu beyond its normal selection to include such choices as cereal.
Children's hospital
A children's hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children . The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal medicine and adult surgical specialties...
s in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and the largest such facility in the country. While a separate facility, it is located on the same Grafton
Grafton, New Zealand
Grafton is a suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand. The suburb is named for the Duke of Grafton, a patron of the first Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson, and was once known as 'Grafton Heights', denoting it's history as a well-off suburb in Auckland's earliest decades...
-area grounds of Auckland City Hospital
Auckland City Hospital
The Auckland City Hospital is Auckland's main hospital and the largest hospital in New Zealand, as well as one of the oldest medical facilities of the country. It is a publicly funded hospital, run by the Auckland District Health Board since 2001...
in Auckland City
Auckland City
Auckland City was the city and local authority covering the Auckland isthmus and most of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, in the North Island of New Zealand. On 1 November 2010 it was amalgamated into the wider Auckland Region under the authority of the new Auckland Council...
and adjacent to the Auckland Medical School
University of Auckland, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
The University of Auckland's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences was established in 1968 at its present site in Grafton, Auckland...
.
Starship Children's Health treats over 86,000 patients a year (2005/2006 financial year), around a quarter of them in patient
Patient
A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....
s. Starship is also a major medical teaching centre, leading New Zealand in paediatric training and research. The hospital received the 2005 New Zealand Health Innovations Awards for its medication safety programs.
Facilities
The main Starship building opened on 18 November 1991 on the grounds of Auckland City Hospital. Its name was chosen to appeal to children and young people and to reflected the building's design. The building has a central atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
lit by natural light and designed to a rainforest theme with a playground. Each of its five levels is painted a different colour, with a symbolic meaning: Aqua
Aqua
- Music :* Aqua , a Danish pop band* Aqua , American record producer and composer of film and television scores* Aqua, album by Edgar Froese* Aqua , 1992* "Aqua", a piano piece by Ryuichi Sakamoto...
for the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
; Orange
Orange (colour)
The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...
for land; Blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
for sky; Yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
for sunshine; and Pink
Pink
Pink is a mixture of red and white. Commonly used for Valentine's Day and Easter, pink is sometimes referred to as "the color of love." The use of the word for the color known today as pink was first recorded in the late 17th century....
for health.
Medical
Facilities include inpatient and outpatient services as well as community based services such as Community Child Health and Disability Service, Safekids and Paediatric Home Care. The building has nine wards and a capacity of 219 beds. Besides the main building, Starship has outpatient clinics for the Auckland region in Tamaki
Tamaki, New Zealand
Tamaki is a small suburb of the city of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located in the east of the city, 11 kilometres from the city centre, by the banks of the estuarial Tamaki River, which is a southern arm of the Hauraki Gulf...
, West Auckland
Waitakere
Waitakere City was the name of a city which existed from 1989 until 2010 in the Auckland region. It was New Zealand's fifth largest city, with an annual growth of about 2%...
and North Shore City, as well as being associated with approximately 45 Outreach Clinics throughout the country.
Other
The volunteer group Radio Lollipop
Radio Lollipop
Radio Lollipop is a charitable organization for entertaining children in hospital. It organizes volunteers to spend time with children on a one to one basis, taking its name from the radio stations it runs in hospitals playing children's programming - part presented by children...
operate a in hospital radio station, as well as visiting children with games and entertainment in the evenings. The hospital includes a number of food outlets and a convenience store. Previously, it also had a McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
franchise, but this was closed in 2005 after 8 years of operation, with the company citing a very marginal operation as the main reason. Some anti-obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
campaigners had also considered the fast-food restaurant as providing a wrong message, though the franchise noted that it had extended its menu beyond its normal selection to include such choices as cereal.
External links
- Welcome to Starship Children’s Health and Starship Foundation (official hospital website)