The Lister Presbyterian Health Trust was formed in 2018. It is a private charitable trust registered under the Charities Act 2005 (CC56452).
The Trustees of this Trust are incorporated as a board under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 (under no. 2722573). The Trust was established to continue the charitable legacy of The North Shore Presbyterian Hospital Trust. It began its life as a charitable grant-making body on 1 July 2019.
The North Shore Presbyterian Hospital Trust
The North Shore Presbyterian Hospital Trust was founded in 1963 by a group of Presbyterians, including lawyer and philanthropist, the late Polly Macky.
It was incorporated under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 and later registered as a charity under the Charities Act 2005.
The Hospital Trust was established to purchase and run the Lister Hospital, a private hospital in Anzac Street, Takapuna, and so save it from being sold for use as a motel.
The North Shore Hospital had not been built at that stage, so the potential loss of this small hospital was viewed with dismay.
The group raised enough money from loans and appeals to buy the hospital as a going concern. It was assisted in doing so by grants from the Sir George Elliot Charitable Trust and The Auckland Savings Bank, as well as loans from several medical practitioners based on the North Shore.
The Lister Hospital was operated as a not-for-profit institution and, for over 20 years, the Trustees managed to keep its fees at a competitive level.
They also maintained a ‘free bed’ available for short-term patients on the recommendation of their doctor.
However, in 1985, faced with growing concerns relating to parking and access restrictions, increasing noise levels from the nearby Shore City complex, and the need to expand to be economical, the then Trustees of the Hospital Trust sold the Lister Hospital to Southern Cross. Fortunately, this did not mean the end of the Hospital Trust, merely a change in direction.
From 1985, the Hospital Trust used its capital resources to earn an income that would be available to make grants for charitable purposes.
It distributed a proportion of its income each year to worthy charitable purposes focused predominantly on advancing the physical or mental health or spiritual welfare of members of the North Shore and Rodney communities.
Since 1985, the Hospital Trust has supported many projects, including the North Shore Hospice, the Hibiscus Coast Hospice, Age Concern, Riding for the Disabled, and hospital chaplaincy at North Shore Hospital.
In 2018, the Trustees of the Hospital Trust decided to form a new Trust, the Lister Presbyterian Health Trust, and distribute the assets of the Hospital Trust to this new Trust.
The reasons for this included a desire to operate under a Trust Deed more suited to the Hospital Trust’s sphere of operations since 1985 and modernised in ways that were not possible under the Hospital Trust’s Trust Deed.
With the formation of the Lister Presbyterian Health Trust in 2018, the Hospital Trust ceased making grants on 30 June 2019. The transfer of the Hospital Trust’s assets was completed in early January 2024 and the Hospital Trust was voluntarily deregistered as a charity on 12 January 2024