Maternity unit delay to avoid disruptions

The new $9.8 million maternity unit being built at Whangarei Hospital (above) has been delayed slightly by the need to plan for future expansion. Photo / File

Planning for future expansion will cause a slight delay in completing Whangarei's new maternity services building, the Northland District Health Board says.

NDHB chief executive Nick Chamberlain said two additional floors would be added to the $9.8 million maternity unit at Whangarei Hospital at a later stage as the new facility was gradually built and the necessary foundation and infrastructure work had already been carried out.

The original building design incorporated strengthened flooring above the new unit to ensure that, when the time came to build additional levels, disruption would be minimised.

However, Dr Chamberlain said the board made a decision last month to construct a shell above the maternity unit now to avoid any disturbances of maternity services going forward.

"Recent amendments to health and safety legislation are leading to safer, more conservative building practices and discussions with clinical leaders have confirmed that we would still need to move the maternity unit to another area of the hospital while building the floor above," he said.

"With our space constraints and the specialised nature of maternity services, this would be extremely difficult."

The new maternity unit replaces the current 40-year-old facility with a modern, family- friendly facility. It will co-locate antenatal clinics, assessment rooms, birthing rooms and post-natal beds currently spread over two floors in the hospital.

The new facility includes a high dependency unit and central staff base. Each birthing room and bedroom will have full en suite facilities. The completion and occupation of the maternity unit will now be November, slightly later than originally planned.