The people
Stephanie’s wonderful vision for this project inspired a team of volunteers and sponsors to come on board and help her to turn her ideas into reality.
Stephanie’s wonderful vision for this project inspired a team of volunteers and sponsors to come on board and help her to turn her ideas into reality.
In 2010 Hutt Hospital Emergency Department nurse Stephanie Beddis won the title of ‘New Zealand’s Hardest Working Nurse’ and $10,000 prize money in a competition set up by Gareth Morgan. She decided to put the prize money towards creating a unique distraction therapy environment in our new emergency department.
The Tree Hutt has been designed as a distraction therapy environment for children being treated in the emergency department. Bright murals, welcoming characters, calming sounds and lots of books and toys help children to cope by taking their minds off the strange smells, sights, sounds and feelings of anxiety that they may not have experienced before.
The Tree Hutt is the name of the children’s area of the new Hutt Hospital Emergency Department. In The Tree Hutt you will discover a magical bush clearing full of things to look at, listen to, touch, play with and read. Our friends Pip the Kiwi, Lulu the Hu-hu, Matilda the Morepork, Wiki the Weta, Poko the Kakapo and Sam the Tuatara will be on hand to guide each child’s journey.