Rawiri Paratene (Ngā Puhi) visits a unique health service in Hokianga county. In July 1993 the Government signed a contract for the Hokianga to run their own Health Trust.
Rawiri begins his journey by attending a fundraiser event at the Opononi Hotel Club, aiding in the goal of raising money to buy beds for the elderly for the local hospital. He also takes us on a journey to the significant places of his childhood, looking back on the reasons his whānau left the district moving on to south Auckland and his eventual return to his home some years later.
The heart of the Hokianga Medical Service is Rawene Hospital. Dr Tony Birch is the Medical Director of 20 years and Kirsten McCullum and Anne Morgan are two of the community health nurses.
Two carvings stand sentinel at the entrance of Rawene Hospital, erected in commemoration of Scottish doctor G.M Smith, a man who in 1914 came to the Hokianga opening a free clinic and training nurses to administer his new system of medical care to the Hokianga region.
Following Anne Morgan as she does her nursing rounds around the Hokianga, they come to the home of Judy Daniels and goes on to visit a school where Kirsten McCullum discusses the advantages of having a nurse visit schools and homes.
Kirsten takes Rawiri to meet Josh Penney and he shares his memories of the nurses visits to his home as a child, their mode of transport and the home remedies his mother used.
Panguru resident Jenny Wijohn speaks about the local clinic.
A survey of the medical work in isolated areas. Archival footage from a Weekly Review is interspersed throughout film. Dr Graham Kemble Welch, who featured in the Weekly Review, makes the journey back to Hokianga after 50 years.
Other local identities appearing in the documentary are: Whaea Joan Royal; Whaea Ranga Hohepa; Professor Pat Hohepa; Whaea Maisie Taylor; Whaea Kare Toi; Cath Donaldson; Judith Reinken; Epidemiologist; Chris Diamond, Trust Chairman, Bridget Allan, Chief Executive Officer; Te Miringa Huriwai, Health Promotion Officer; Toby Adams.