HANMER CLINICS CLOSE DOORS

Ten inpatients at the alcohol and drug addiction centre in Hanmer Springs
will be placed in the care of the Christchurch-based mental health charity
Richmond Fellowship, after the Hanmer Clinics shut up shop today.

Last week the contract between Hanmer and the Health Ministry for provision
of treatment for people with drug and alcohol addictions ended 14 months early.

The ministry said the end of the contract was mutual and was decided due to
Hanmer's financial issues.

Hanmer has 339 outpatients and 10 inpatients.

Hanmer ceases managing its community clinics in Christchurch, Wellington,
Hamilton, Tauranga and Auckland today.

Hanmer's management of the residential programme at the Queen Mary site in
Hanmer Springs will also stop tomorrow, but the Richmond Fellowship will
care for the inpatients until the last one completes the 35-day programme
in eight days time, a ministry spokeswoman said.

"They'll become outpatients then. Obviously there will be some continuity
they may need, but Richmond's got quite an extensive provision of
services," she said.

Last night more than 100 people gathered at Hanmer Springs golf club to
voice their opposition to the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB)
proposal to sell the land on which the Hanmer Clinics was sited.

Speakers criticised the board's proposal and consultation process, and were
also unimpressed at the board's taking of $250,000 in rent from the
clinics, adding to its financial burden.

One woman said the loss of the service was inevitably linked to the board's
proposed sale of the land, estimated to be worth millions.

It was alleged funding was withdrawn to the service to facilitate the sale.

The board said there had been no decision to sell the land, which it has
not used since it sold the business on it to a private provider in 1997,
and it was continuing further public consultation.

Former Queen Mary Hospital former medical superintendent Robert Crawford
urged the board to vest the land in Hurunui District Council for the public
to enjoy.

Dr Crawford said there appeared to be about 40 reasons not to sell, and
just one in support of it.

Today Hanmer Foundation chairman John Beattie expressed sadness at the loss
of the service and wanted to know how the ministry expected to provide
service elsewhere for lower costs.

"I accept the reality that with the Government representing 75 per cent of
the revenues of our organisation, it ultimately had the right to make the
choice as to whether it wanted to purchase the services or not," he told
National Radio.

"...I don't think it's going to be possible to replicate the services
provided at Hanmer Spring at any lesser cost than what we provided them
for, because we know we were doing it on a bare bones basis."

But national addiction centre director Doug Sellman said while the closure
of Hanmer might leave a shortage of beds in the short term, the future of
services was not too bleak.

"In the future I think we are heading towards a better balance between
regional services...as well as better balance between residential and
outpatient services generally," Dr Sellman said.