Wellington Regional Hospital

Wellington Regional Hospital is located on Riddiford Street in Newtown.

Downloadable maps

• Map of Wellington Regional Hospital (PDF)
• Elevation map of Wellington Regional Hospital (PDF)
• How to get to the Ophthalmology (Eye) department (PDF)
• Directions to the Ewart building (PDF) 

Phone

General enquiries: 04 385 5999

Patient enquiries: 04 385 5947 or 04 385 5949

Addresses

You will find maps and signs throughout the hospital and a copy of the main building map is available at reception in the main atrium.

Each building is marked on the map in a different colour. If you’re unsure where to go, please ask one of our volunteers at the desk in the main atrium (see below) or our friendly staff members. All staff wear identity cards and are happy to help you.

After hours access

For after hours access (9:30pm to 6am), report to the after hours entrance at the south end of the hospital by the Delivery Suite and Emergency Department entrances off Riddiford Street.

When you come to the hospital you may be greeted by a hospital volunteer who can guide you to your appointment if you need help.

If you wish to know more about the Wellington Hospitals Foundation hospital volunteer service or about becoming a volunteer please visit www.whf.org.nz.

Cycling

Bikes are welcome at Wellington Regional Hospital. There are bike racks located:

• in the underground car park are located by the North access ramp on the right hand side as you bike down
• outside the Children’s Hospital (left hand side of the entrance)
• by the entrance to the Orthopaedic Clinic on the Mein Street side of the Clinical Services Building (CSB).

Buses to Wellington Regional Hospital

For routes and timetables you can phone Metlink on 0800 801 700 or use the journey planner at https://www.metlink.org.nz/#plan.

Direct services connect the hospital with Wellington’s CBD and most of its eastern, western and southern suburbs. You can travel into the city by bus or train from Hutt Valley, Eastbourne, Wainuiomata, Johnsonville / Tawa, Porirua or Kapiti, and take a connecting bus to the hospital. The hospital is a 10 to 15 minute bus ride from the railway station, airport and ferry terminal.

Direct bus routes run to and from the following suburbs past the hospital:

Click here for more information about Metlink bus services.

Taxis

Taxis are available from the front entrance of the hospital on Riddiford Street.

Free shuttles between CCDHB sites

Read more about our free shuttles between Wellington Regional Hospital and Kenepuru Community Hospital and the door-to-door Kapiti Community and Health Transport Service.

On-site cancer society volunteer driving service

This is for cancer patients who need occasional help with transport to treatment. Talk to the staff at the Wellington Blood and Cancer Centre for more information.

Main car park

Entry and exit to the main underground car park is via the Riddiford Street entrance. There are 310 car parks for patient and visitors.

Mein St

Additional parking is available for patients and visitors on Mein Street. Spaces available for public use are are marked by green lines.

(The large car park that was previously available for public use by turning left at the roundabout from Riddiford Street is temporarily unavailable to allow construction of the new Children's Hospital.)

Parking for Eye Clinic, Children's Hospital, Paediatric Outpatients,  and Centre for Endocrine, Diabetes and Obesity Research

Patients and visitors to the eye clinic and the children’s hospital can also park in parts of the C zone parking at the top of Hospital Road behind the Grace Neill Block. Spaces available for public use are are marked by green lines

There is also limited patient parking that can be accessed via Hospital Road, off Adelaide Road.

View map of all car parks at Wellington Regional Hospital. 

Accessible parking

Mobility parking spaces are marked on this map. 

Car parking charges

Charges are posted at the entrance and must be paid prior to exit at any of the automatic payment machines located in the lift foyers. These machines take coins, notes and credit cards.

If you visit the hospital a lot and have difficulty paying for parking, please see the charge nurse or team leader in the department you are visiting, you may be eligible for discounted car parking.

Please do not visit the hospital wards if you are unwell as this can compromise the health of all our patients.

Visiting hours

COVID-19 alert level changes. Restrictions on visiting are to ensure the safety of patients and staff by minimising avoidable contact and the potential for spread of the virus. Check current visiting hours here. 

Please note that, in the case of very sick or special needs patients, longer visiting hours can be arranged with the charge nurse.

General visitor information:

• Visiting hours are designed to ensure patients have the opportunity to enjoy the company of family and friends while recognising the need to maintain the comfort and safety of all patients.
• Whānau/family are welcome outside of the regular visiting hours but must talk to a nurse or administrator at ward reception before going to see the patient. This may include whānau/family participating in doctor’s rounds and assisting with activities of daily living (ADL’s).
• When a patient is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), family members are welcome to sit with the patient at any time.
• Occasionally, in shared rooms, the number of people or length of time spent with a patient may be restricted out of consideration to other patients nearby.
• Due to limited space in the Day Surgery Unit, we invite no more than two whānau/family members remain with the patient.
• Mental Health, Addictions and Intellectual Disability Service access website for further information.
• These hours allow for clinical team assessment and treatment processes to be completed, patient comfort cares and rest periods.

Te Wao Nui child health service and hospital: Parents/guardians may visit at any time. All other visiting hours are the same as - the rest of the hospital - these are 10am–1pm and 3pm–8pm daily.

Mental health: Visits need to be discussed with the team leader prior to visiting.

Children

Children are very welcome to visit, but young children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Send a message to a patient

This service allows you to send a fax message to a friend or family member in a ward within Wellington Regional Hospital. To make use of this facility please call (04) 385 5999 and ask the operator to send a message through to the ward. The message will be added to a fax greeting and sent through to the ward and on to the patient.

Whānau rooms for families

These are available on levels 4, 5, 6 and 7 for all whānau visiting patients on the wards, and provides a place for larger gatherings. The hospital is part of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative and these rooms also offer a quiet space for nursing mothers.

Read more about admission to one of our hospitals.

This page will help you prepare for a hospital stay and has information about what to bring with you and what to arrange before you leave home, meals and services during your stay and what happens when you're discharged.

Your GP or specialist may refer you for an outpatient appointment at Wellington Regional Hospital, Kenepuru Community Hospital or Kapiti Health Centre.

Read more about CCDHB outpatient appointments.

Need an interpreter?

Interpreter services can be made available to people who meet specific criteria. For outpatient appointments, interpreting services should be booked in advance.

Deaf patients can request a Sign language interpreter or use the video interpreting service. Find out more about booking an interpreter.

Need a wheelchair or help from an orderly?

Phone us on 04 385 5999 extension 86100 before you visit to arrange this.

Your health information

We collect and hold information about all of our patients so we can provide the right care and treatment. Your information is confidential and the only staff who are allowed to see your records are those who are involved in your care.

If you are or have been a patient or client of CCDHB you have a right to ask and be given access to personal health information.

Read more about accessing health information here.

How is your information used?

Your family doctor gets a summary of your treatment and any special instructions they need to know, unless you ask us not to do this. If you don’t want us to send this information to your family doctor, please let us know when you are admitted to hospital or come in for an appointment at the hospital or health centre.

Some patient information is used in a general way to help with research and planning so we can improve our services but there are strict rules about how we do this and your privacy is always protected. By law we have to provide some details to a secure health register if you have certain cancers and infectious diseases. The law provides protection for your information and we comply with these laws.

Your consent to treatment

You may need to make choices about your treatment and care. We will provide the information you need in a way you can understand. You can expect to be able to discuss your options with us privately and in a way that makes you feel comfortable.

When you have decided what to do, you will be asked to give your consent. Your consent is needed for all treatment. You can ask questions and change your mind at any time. You are welcome to have a support person or kaiawhina with you.

Body parts and tissues

If tissue is taken from you for testing or any part of your body is removed, you can ask to have this returned to you. Otherwise we keep the tissue or body part for four weeks and then cremate it.

The cultural support area is at the front of the main atrium to the left just past reception and through the glass doors. Here you’ll find our:

• Whanau Care Services
• Pacific support services
• Chaplaincy department (see below)
• Chapel
• Muslim prayer room.

Chaplaincy department

The Chapel and Muslim prayer room are open 24 hours and can be used by all hospital patients, relatives and staff.

The chaplaincy team are available through the Call Centre. During the week: Roman Catholic - Monday to Friday, 8am-2pm; Maori - Monday and Tuesday 8am-12am; all others - Monday to Friday, 8am-4.30pm. If you would like a chaplain to visit please ask a staff member to phone the one you want.

After hours there is a chaplain and Catholic Priest available for critical situations via the Call Centre.

If you want to access a minister from a particular faith not represented within the chaplaincy team, ask your nurse, midwife or doctor for the list of on-call chaplains or ask one of the chaplaincy team to contact an appropriate person.

Flowers, gifts, letters or parcels should be clearly marked with the patient’s name and ward. Flowers are not allowed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or Ward 7 south.

Postal address for letters and parcels:

Wellington Hospital
Private Bag 7902
Wellington South

Physical address for delivery of flowers and gifts:

Wellington Hospital
Riddiford Street
Newtown

Cafés

Wellington Regional Hospital has two cafés and a coffee bar which cater for visitors, patients and staff.

• Vibe Café is open 7am-7pm weekdays and 8.30am-6pm weekends.

• Wishbone (in the main atrium) is open from 6.30am to 6pm weekdays and 8.30am to 4pm weekends.
• Mojo (in the Clinical Services Block by the Mein Street entrance) is open from 7am to 4pm weekdays, 8am-1.30pm Saturdays, 9am-1.30pm Sundays.

Te Wao Nui children's hospital and health service has the White Cedar Café which is open to patients, staff and visitors from 7am - 5pm Monday to Friday, and 9am - 5pm on weekends.

You'll see the café as you enter the main doors on level 2 (next to the lifts), or you can walk across from level 3 of the Wellington Regional Hospital using the link bridge and then take the Tree of Life stairs or lifts to level 2.    

Hospital gift shop

There is a gift shop located in the atrium of Wellington Hospital for patients, staff and visitors. The hours are 8.30am-4pm on weekdays and 9am-3pm weekends. These hours may be affected by COVID-19 alert level changes.

The shop sells a wide range of items including:

• Newspapers, magazines and books
• Hospi Merchandise
• Flowers
• Greeting and get well cards
• Soft toys
• Gift items
• WiFi tokens
• Phone top-ups
• Snapper top-ups
• Snacks and Water
• Basic pharmaceuticals and toiletries
• Stamps
• Dry cleaning

You can also place orders online at http://shop.whf.org.nz/ or using your credit card over the phone on 04 389 5610 for delivery to patients.

The gift shop is run by the hospital's official charity, Wellington Hospitals Foundation. Find out more at http://www.whf.org.nz/.

Internet access (WiFi)

For patients staying overnight, free WiFi is available at Wellington Regional Hospital, Kenepuru Community Hospital and Kapiti Health Centre. Find out more including instructions for how to connect here.

For outpatients, basic WiFi is available at Wellington Regional Hospital in the main building, the Grace Neill Block, the Children's Hospital and the Emergency Department. You can buy tokens at the hospital gift shop in the atrium of the main building. The cost is $5 for 8 consecutive hours.

Banking and post

Opposite the Hospital Gift Shop is an ASB ATM machine (this caters for most banks) and a post box for national and international posting.

Branches of most banks and a New Zealand Post Shop can be found on Riddiford Street in Newtown – turn left out the main entrance and walk for 5 minutes down Riddiford Street.

Toilets for visitors are well sign-posted throughout the hospital. If you are unable to find one, please ask a staff member. Some of these have baby changing facilities.

There is also a parents' room with chairs for breastfeeding and baby changing facilities in the main atrium, past the gift shop and to the left before the cafe.

Margaret Stewart House

Priority goes to patients receiving cancer and dialysis treatment.

Phone: (04) 380 0300

Te Whare Whānau o Te Pehi Parata

Temporary accommodation is available for whānau from outside the CCDHB region who are supporting an inpatient. Accommodation is limited and pre-booking is advised. There is one room per whānau for three or four people depending on availability. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

To enquire about availability contact Whānau Care Services between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday on 0800 999 442 or email wcs@ccdhb.org.nz.

Ronald McDonald House

Ronald McDonald House provides free accommodation to families with seriously ill children aged 21 and under while they are receiving treatment in Wellington Regional Hospital.

Priority is given to families who live more than 80km away from Wellington or those who live in the South Island. Distance limits are waived for families with a child in ICU.

Accommodation close to Wellington Regional Hospital

• Southgate Motel, 70-72 Riddiford St, Newtown, (04) 939 9292.
• Ascot Motor Lodge, 46 Riddiford St, Newtown, (04) 380 0047.
• Adelaide Motel, 209-211 Adelaide Rd, Newtown, (04) 389 8138.
• Rydges Wellington Airport Hotel, 28 Stewart Duff Drive, Rongotai, Wellington, (04) 896 9150
• Sojourn Apartment Hotel, 22-26 Riddiford Street, Newtown 0800 765 687.
• Sojourn Ghuznee, 75 Ghuznee Street, Wellington City - Information sheet