Hawke's Bay
Wine country with a serious regional hospital
Hawke's Bay is one of the warmest, driest corners of New Zealand, known for its wine, its food growing and the art deco streets of Napier. Clinically it runs one main hospital with smaller sites around it.
Hawke's Bay at a glance
Main centres:
Hastings, Napier, Wairoa, Waipukurau
Population:
Regional population: 179,700
Largest urban centre: 68,900
Health district:
Hawke's Bay
Main hospital:
Hawke's Bay Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital, Hastings
Summer average high:
25°C in January
Winter average high:
14°C in July
Sunshine:
2,190 hours a year
Rainfall:
800 mm a year
Living in Hawke's Bay, two cities and a lot of vineyards
Hastings and Napier sit close together on the east coast with quite different characters. Napier is coastal and rebuilt in art deco after the 1931 earthquake. Hastings sits inland among the orchards and vines.
This is one of the country's main food and wine regions. Long growing season, hot dry summers, and a produce culture that turns up in the restaurants and the weekend markets.
Wairoa sits to the north, and Waipukurau covers Central Hawke's Bay to the south. Te Mata Peak, the beaches of Ocean Beach and Waimārama, and around 200 km of cycle trails are all close to home.
Hawke's Bay hospitals, a main site with satellites
Hawke's Bay Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital in Hastings is the region's main hospital, providing emergency and specialist care.
Health New Zealand describes Napier Health, Wairoa Health and the Central Hawke's Bay Health Centre at Waipukurau as smaller satellite sites. Wairoa Health has an emergency department and a primary birthing unit. Emergency presentations from Napier and Central Hawke's Bay go to Hastings.
So the acute work concentrates in Hastings while outpatient and community services sit closer to where people live.
Moving to Hawke's Bay with family
Both cities have full schooling, established sports clubs and the services a family needs, and they're close enough that living in one and working in the other costs you very little of your day.
Housing goes further than the main centres, and you'll usually get outdoor space with it.
Summers here are long and reliably warm, which changes how a family spends its year.
The fuller picture
The Hastings hospital carries the region's acute and specialist work, with the most complex cases referred on. Health New Zealand describes its services rather than giving it a tertiary or secondary label.
Wairoa is a small, tight-knit community with a strong Māori identity and a great place for doctors who enjoy rural practice.
Hawke's Bay Airport in Napier has direct flights to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, so the rest of the country is close at hand.
Talk to us about Hawke's Bay
We'll talk through the difference between a Hastings-based role and one at a satellite site, because they're quite different jobs. If you're moving from overseas, registration, immigration and relocation are part of the same conversation.
What is the main hospital in Hawke's Bay?
Hawke's Bay Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital in Hastings.
Health New Zealand describes it as the region's main hospital, providing emergency and specialist care, with smaller satellite sites at Napier, Wairoa and Waipukurau.
What is the difference between Napier and Hastings?
Napier is coastal and rebuilt in art deco after the 1931 earthquake.
Hastings sits inland among the orchards and vineyards, and it's where the region's main hospital is.
They're close enough that plenty of people live in one and work in the other.
Is Hawke's Bay a good place to live with a family?
Full schooling and sports clubs across both cities, housing that goes further than the main centres, and long warm summers.
The food and wine culture is part of ordinary life here rather than a tourist feature.
Contact Us
nz@nzdr.nz
+64 21 288 6937
www.nzdr.nz
Auckland, New Zealand
