A mental health facility in New Zealand is no longer fit to operate due to its unsafe conditions yet it continues to function. The Purehurehu is a mental health unit in Kenepuru Hospital located in Porirua, New Zealand.
According to RNZ, The mental health facility has not been renovated in over 20 years. It continued functioning until Capital & Coast District Health Board deemed it "no longer fit for purpose."
Despite the "unsafe" label of the facility, Department of Health Board manager Nigel Fairley claims that the building is "very safe." The recently revealed Board papers indicate that the mental health facility did not comply with fire regulations.
On top of that, the facility also failed to meet the "best practice for mental health" standards. Purehurehu opened on 1992 and its primary function was to house former prison inmates with mental health problems.
Regardless of the safety claims, a Labor Party Health spokesperson insisted that the DHB manager should rectify the problem as soon as possible. The mental health facility is planned to go through a multi-million dollar renovation program "shortly."
Meanwhile, inadequate Mental Health facilities aren't the only problem in New Zealand, there's also some natural anomalies happening there as well. According to CNN, there's been a mass "beached whales" sighting on a beach shore in New Zealand.
The sighting is considered as "the third largest mass beaching of Whales" ever recorded in New Zealand. The strange even cost the lives of some 400 whales.
The report mentioned that mental health problems could also be the cause for the mass whale-beachings. Department of Conservation spokesperson Trish Grant explained that whales can follow their troubled brethren.
This is due to the strong bond between whales, if one gets in trouble it's highly likely that the rest will follow. This results in more than a dozen whales stranded on the shore.
