Pukeora Sanatorium

Story

Pukeora Tuberculosis Sanatorium was a Tuberculosis hospital in the Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.
The sanatorium was built in 1918 on the hillside site between Takapau and Waipukurau, to care for soldiers returning from World War I. A few years later the hospital started treating the general public for TB.
The cure for tuberculosis back in those days was fresh air, which is why the property is built up on the hill. The verandahs and shacks provided easy access to this. During its 60 years or so of operation as a TB clinic around 7000 people were treated for TB. One notable patient in the 1950s was Noel Hilliard, a New Zealand novelist.
In 1958 the hospital was redeveloped as a home for the disabled and physically handicapped. It housed up to 80 residents, some whom lived there for 20 years if not more. In later years, as numbers of disabled residents declined, the hospital moved more into caring for head injury patients.
1998 saw the local health authority decide that people with disabilities be cared for within the community, and the hospital was closed. Shortly afterwards, the hospital was placed on the market, and sold in 2000.