A $6 million extension has been announced for Tauranga's Grace Hospital. The major building project will focus on the private hospital's private day stay surgical theatre and help enable more surgeries to be performed. Grace Hospital general manager Janet Keys said the project involved constructing a ground floor wing beside the existinghospital, and includes another floor above to provide in total, an additional 1300 square metres of space. "The key addition will be a dedicated day stay theatre and an endoscopy procedure room, which addresses patients' needs for privacy and comfort - and meets or exceeds the standards for such facilities." "The first floor will encompass consulting rooms and a larger training room for staff and consultants, and helps future-proof hospital facilities." Grace Hospital, which opened in 2007, has six operating theatres, a separate procedure room, 48 in-patient beds and a day stay department. The hospital made national news on opening as the first hospital in the country to embrace robotic surgery - and install a da Vinci surgical robot. Ms Keys said the board recently approved the purchase of the latest model Si robot to enhance the hospital's reputation as a leader in innovative surgical technologies, including robotic surgery. The further training opportunities that will become available with the Si model will attract new surgeons to robotic surgery, and allow Grace Hospital to become a centre for surgeons to begin their robotic training in New Zealand. Surgery to be performed in the new day stay theatre includes minor ear, nose and throat procedures such as tonsillectomies, along with gynaecological, orthopaedic and plastic surgery. The new endoscopy room will focus on meeting new standards for patient care for this specialty which focuses on investigation of the gastro-intestinal system. Norfolk Southern Cross Board chairman Terry Moore said the decision to build the new day stay theatre followed well-established overseas trends towards increasing reliance on day stay surgery. Grace Hospital senior staff don't expect patients, surgeons or staff members will suffer much if any disruption as the project gets underway, but will provide regular updates to all stakeholders as the work progresses. Marra Construction was awarded the contract, and have estimated there will be up to 50 staff or sub-contractors on site. It is hoped the new building will be operational late in 2014.
