​TAPATORU​

Moi came to Wellington from Rotoiti in the 70's and lived in Devon Street, Aro Valley with Robina (Rod) and others. She started working for Chrissy Witoko at the Sunset which was located at Ghuznee Street, and then in later years in Cuba Street, Wellington.



After a few years Moi began work at Wellington hospital and worked there for 29 years until six months before she lost her battle with cancer.



Moi was taken home back to Rotoiti and laid to rest by her father.



Below is a newspaper article from 'The Wellingtonian' which was written about Moi.

Moi Ihakara has been working at Wellington Hospital since 1984, and has had a bird’s-eye view of all the changes since then.



The latest, the building of the hospital’s Sterile Services Unit where Moi works, was completed last month. The unit is charged with the sterilisation of all equipment used for patient care. “When I started, I was a permanent cleaner until 1994,” says Moi. “That’s when I started with the Sterile Central Unit as an assistant.” At that time, Wellington Hospital operated two sterile units, one for the wards, the other for theatre rooms, she says. “We used to have to stock the wards with bandages and sterile instruments. There was a very different way of doing things. They are much stricter now.”



Over the years, Moi has also seen processes change in the hospital. “When we collected used things from the wards they were left open on the trolleys. Now everything has a case to go in and everything has to be covered,”. She says Wellington has escaped the controversy that other hospitals have recently experienced because of its strict policy of ensuring the highest level of sterilisation of the equipment.



Cost-cutting and the transformation of new wards resulted in the two older sterile units being combined into one sterile production unit to service the entire hospital in 1996, Moi says. “When the sterile units were combined, you had to go all the way to the other end of the hospital to bring dirty things all the way back because the wards were so spread out.” When the wards are completed, the unit will service the hospital more effectively because of its central location,” she says. The new unit now has state-of-the-art sterilisation machines, making the sterilisation process easier and more efficient for staff.



Moi recently completed training as a sterile unit technician and says she is happy working in the new wing at the hospital. “I’ve found it very rewarding for me, coming up from being a cleaner to where I am today. I’m quite pleased with myself.” The new Wellington Hospital will open next year (2010).