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King Country
King Country News | 1
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By Dan Tasker
Te Kūiti Hospital’s new chemotherapy service is making a positive impact on cancer patients and their families after only a week. Local cancer treatment began at the hospital on Wednesday last week as part of the Government’s wider strategy to improve access to cancer treatment. It is one of 14 new infusion centres across regional New Zealand. One of the first benefactors of the service was Caroline Marnoch, who received her first chemotherapy treatment in Te Kūiti on the first day supported by her mum Jan Crosland. Speaking on behalf of her daughter and as a cancer survivor herself, Crosland, said her family were thrilled for chemotherapy to be available closer to home. “We’re really delighted that Te Kūiti has been granted the opportunity to do the chemo infusions here. Caroline has been travelling to Waikato Hospital to have her chemo treatment along with a huge number of local people,” Crosland said. “Cancer of different varieties is rife in the King Country, and we need the resources of the hospital here,” she said. The session was set-up in a hospital room with two staff members from Waikato Hospital overseeing everything, as a nurse carried out the infusions for Marnoch and two other patients. “There was a gentleman from Taumarunui who was absolutely rapt he didn’t have to go to Waikato, where it virtually took him a whole day. He had to drive the two hours up there, find a park, go to have his chemo and drive back to Taumarunui,” Crosland said. “This Piopio lady, you couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. Her son had brought her in and because it’s local, it means your family
can be involved instead of just being in a totally sterile environment. It was a big day for some families, it disrupted their whole day to get mum or dad or somebody to Waikato - the cost of fuel,” she said. Te Kūiti has also become a hub for a new cancer support group started by Te Awamutu-based Cancer Society supportive care nurse Leoni Lowry in recent months. The group meets every second Wednesday of the month at the Maternity Resource Centre at 20 Carroll St from 10am to noon. Crosland said the sessions had been supported by the Maniapoto Marae Pact Trust, something she thought was important. “One of the speakers at the cancer support group was a Māori guy who is also a survivor and he was so interesting to hear; he said Māori don’t necessarily talk about cancer. There was a Māori lady there from the (Maniapoto) Marae Pact Trust who said she had lost eight members of her family to Mr Cancer,” Crosland said. “They could have survived if they’d talked about it and got it treated early enough. This support group is vital for here, but even more vital is the fact that we can actually go to Te Kūiti Hospital, have our treatment and drive home; it’s just amazing. “It’s a hub, it’s a family, it’s a community and once we get this community cancer support group up and running and getting more people along, I think people will open up about cancer,” she said. Health Minister Simeon Brown said Te Kūiti Hospital would continue building its infusion capability over time to meet local demand. “For King Country families, this means more treatment delivered locally, in a familiar environment, and closer to the people who matter most throughout their cancer journey,” he said.
MAY 28, 2026
Caroline Marnoch was one of the first cancer patients to benefit from Te Kūiti Hospital’s new chemotherapy service.
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