Govt announces new Dunedin Hospital plans

The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.

“Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin Hospital that will future-proof the provision of timely, quality healthcare for the people of Dunedin and the surrounding Otago and Southland regions. This will be a new, modern hospital, built at the former Cadbury factory site,” Mr Brown says. 

“Last year, the Government invested $290 million towards the new Dunedin Hospital project, bringing the total funding for the project to $1.88 billion. Alongside this, the Government is investing a record additional $16.68 billion in health over three years.

“All New Zealanders deserve to see better results for that record spend on health, including better health infrastructure, to ensure they have access to timely, quality healthcare. The Government has listened to the Dunedin community and is committed to build a new Dunedin Hospital to deliver the healthcare locals need.” 

Upon opening, the new Dunedin Hospital will provide: 

• 351 beds, with capacity to expand to 404 beds over time 
• 20 short-stay surgical beds, a new model of care 
• 22 theatres, with capacity to expand to 24 theatres over time 
• 41 same day beds to provide greater capacity for timely access to specialist and outpatient procedures 
• 58 ED spaces, including a short-stay unit and specialised emergency psychiatric care 
• 20 imaging units for CT, MRI and Xray procedures, with 4 additional spaces available for future imaging advancement.  

In September last year, the Government released Robert Rust’s independent review into the hospital project.

The review found that the project was off-track and over budget. It also said it would take $3 billion to build the hospital to the original design and scope.

“The Dunedin Hospital project was poorly handled under the previous government. They promised big, made poor decisions, and blew out the budget. We are focused on delivering a safe, modern hospital complex that Dunedin deserves,” Mr Brown says. 

“There are few suitable sites for a new Dunedin Hospital to be located. The former Cadbury factory site purchased by the previous government has numerous construction challenges such as contamination, flood risk, and access issues. However, we are confident that these can be overcome, and it’s clear that using this site to build a new hospital would be far less disruptive than constructing a new complex at the existing hospital. 

“Our review of the project means the hospital will be future-proofed for growth, with no change to the number of floors to be built. The new Dunedin Hospital will provide clinical staff with world-class facilities and is designed to meet the needs of the community. The site will also be future-proofed so new beds and services will be able to be brought online when needed. The new Dunedin Hospital will be able to adapt and expand in years to come to ensure it responds to changing needs.”  

The Government’s decision to halt work on the inpatients site (at the former Cadbury site) and review the project was met with outrage in Dunedin, and sparked huge protests across the south, with 35,000 marching in central Dunedin in September to object. 

"We've listened to the people of Otago and Southland, and what we've done is we have committed to the new Dunedin hospital here at the Cadbury site. It was a very clear message and now it is about getting those contractual negotiations completed and getting construction underway. But as I say, we've gone through a process to make sure we can deliver this within budget.

"Ultimately, we went through a process to make sure that we delivered for this region. We delivered within budget, but obviously we listened to what was needed here in this region as well. And so we've listened and we've come to a conclusion which allows us to deliver it within budget, whilst also, as the clinical leads told me this morning, to deliver a facility that's the right facility on opening and has that capacity to grow and change as the needs develop over time."

Main image: Health Minister Simeon Brown speaking in Dunedin today.