Whangārei Hospital is in line for a $759 million rebuild, but work won’t be completed until 2031.
Whangārei Hospital is in line for a $759 million rebuild, but work won’t be completed until 2031.
Stage one of the Whangārei Hospital rebuild will go ahead with the Government today announcing $759 million for the first stage of construction, which should be finished by 2031.
Health Minister Andrew Little was at Whangārei Hospital today to announce a new emergency department with three times more space will be part of the first stage of a two-stage project to build a new hospital for Whangārei and Northland.
As well as an expanded ED that can comfortably cater for more people, there’s an acute services building and a child-health unit and a plan for stage two. The acute services building will have 10 operating theatres, a coronary care unit and modern intensive-care facilities.
As well, a new child-health unit will include a whānau house and emergency accommodation so families can stay with their children.
Stage two will include a 158-bed ward tower, with four medical and surgical wards and an acute assessment unit.
“It was originally expected both stages could have been funded out of the $780 million earmarked for the new hospital, but it became clear that would not build the facility Northland needs, so the project has been broken into two parts,” Little said.
“Today I can confirm funding of $759 million for stage one. Construction work on stage two cannot start straight away, so final funding decisions on that stage will be made when planning is completed and a more accurate picture of costs is known.”
Little said that as in many places, hospital services in Northland had failed to keep up with growing demand and changing health practices.
“Whangārei Hospital was built in the 1950s and is well past its use-by date,” Andrew Little said.
“On top of that, Northland is one of the most deprived areas in the country and has been under extra pressure from a rapidly growing population as people leave Auckland and move north.
“The previous Government failed to invest in hospital infrastructure, and we’re seeing the effect of that now. The new Whangārei Hospital is part of the $7 billion hospital rebuilding programme this Government has under way.”
An impression of stage one of the $759 million Whangārei Hospital rebuild.
It will be built in the existing hospital grounds, in the Whangārei suburb of Maunu, with construction expected to employ 500 people, including carpenters, electricians and plumbers.
Whangārei Hospital is part of the Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand nationwide network of public hospitals. It services more than 190,000 people, and provides back-up to smaller hospitals in Dargaville, Kawakawa, Kaitaia and Rawene. The region’s population is expected to reach 210,000 by 2030.
Little said Cabinet has approved funding of $759 million so stage one can get started. Stage two is expected to cost another $200 million, but that will be costed more accurately closer to the time.
The acute services building, which is part of stage one, won’t be finished until 2031. Work on stage two (the ward tower) can’t start for several years.
‘’Because costs can change a lot in that time, we’re funding the first stage so work can get under way and will look at the cost of stage two nearer the time,’’ he said.
‘’We estimate that the start date of main works will be in 2026, with the new Acute Services building due to be completed in 2031. However, the child health unit and whanau house are expected to be completed in 2026.’’
■ Whangarei Hospital has been in a poor state for years - in 2021 sewage was leaking down the inside of walls in the hospital’s medical wing.
The unwelcome discharge was among a raft of infrastructure woes that included roofs that leak in heavy rain, windows falling off the surgical wing, and lifts that have broken down with bedridden patients inside.
