The New Zealand Hospital Engineers Association was formed in 1936 and was one of the early members of The International Federation of Hospital Engineering. The Association was renamed The New Zealand Institute of Health Estate and Engineering Management in 1991 and in 2009 it has opted to change again to better reflect the current disciplines represented by the institute. The New Zealand Institute of Healthcare Engineering (NZIHE) was selected as the organisational name that better reflected the nature of work being undertaken by Engineers within New Zealand's Health Sector.
The Institute has, for many years, maintained close links with The Institute of Hospital Engineers Australia with Engineers from both sides of the Tasman participating in the ANZEX exchange scheme providing an excellent foundation for ongoing information exchange.
Membership of the Institute is open to the many people who are involved in the technical aspects of Estate and Engineering in the Health Service.
Name Change
Following extensive discussion over the last two years and a survey of members it was decided we should proceed with the move to change our name to better reflect the multidisciplinary nature of our membership. The membership voted by postal ballot to change the name to The New Zealand Institute of Healthcare Engineering (NZIHE). On 1 July 2009 we launched the new name and you will see it on all our information from now on.