Methven residents formed a committee, led by Mr J Carr, and spent the next three years arguing their case to get a hospital facility for the town. The Ashburton Hospital Board purchased land and built a maternity home on an acre of land. It included nurses quarters, dining room, one double room and two single wards, a 13 foot by 16 foot labour room (for deliveries), a sterilizing room fully-equipped for the time with sterilizing equipment costing 261 pounds 10 shillings, patients’ bedroom and offices, kitchen, scullery, maid’s room and fuel room.
It was designed to accommodate about 50 patients a year.  

While each ward had its own fire place, the building was lit by electric light, generated by a Petter engine which had storage capacity for 48 hours of light. The brick building, built by Mr C Maynard, had hot and cold water and it cost 3,333 pounds to build. Staffing issues and a falling number of maternity cases caused the temporary closure of the maternity hospital over several decades until it finally closed in 1968.

In 1968 when Methven Cottage Hospital (a maternity hospital) was closed down, locals saw an opportunity to establish a resthome in the existing building, to be named “Methven House”. Methven House has been serving the community for nearly 60 years and is owned by the community and run by a community appointed committee, Methven Aged Persons Welfare Association Incorporated (MAPWAI).  

In October 1974 – METHVEN AGED PERSONS WELFARE ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED was registered comprising of 16 committee members.

In April of 1977 – Methven’s new nursing home, “Methven House” opened as a 13 bed facility along with four .self-contained units

Methven Care Trust (MCT) was established to ensure clear separation of funds raised from the community to fundraise and build a new facility, from the running of the existing operation. Whilst MAPWAI continued to operate Methven House, MCT has been fundraising for the last decade and investigated numerous opportunities for developing replacement aged care facilities during that time. 

IN December 2022, MCT settled the purchase of ‘Crossroads Lodge’, a 20 bedroom former tourism lodge and restaurant. MCT saw the potential to retrofit the Lodge as Methven’s new aged care facilities to replace Methven House upon completion.  In conjunction with the resthome, six two-bedroom apartments adjacent to the resthome were purchased in late 2022 to broaden the aged care facilities provided to the community.

Methven’s first retirement village is successfully registered in January 2024, under the village name ‘Methven Central’.

The Methven Central Care home is open and the residents of Methven House move into their beautiful new space.