Patients will soon fill the beds of a new intensive care, coronary care and medical day stay unit at Tauranga Hospital following the official opening of "Building 50" yesterday.
The completion of Building 50 was the final stage of the hospital's $157 million redevelopment called Project Leo.
Health Minister Tony Ryall wasthere to cut the ribbon yesterday and patients will move into the tower on June 14.
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges joined Mr Ryall on a tour through the new Medical Day Stay Unit on the ground floor and the new ICU and Coronary Care Units on the first floor.
Mr Ryall acknowledged the building's completion on time and on budget.
"It's great to see this sort of investment in our community," Mr Ryall said.
Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief executive Phil Cammish said the next step would be the completion of a new paediatric ward in the former ICU, due to be completed by December.
"There's a beautiful tile mosaic on the floor up there, waiting for the kids," he said.
Yesterday the health board also launched the Integrated Operations Centre - a new and improved "mission control" computer system, based on a similar system implemented at Auckland Airport. The centre supports clinicians and staff with live information on whether beds are full, patient discharge timing and emergency department occupancy.
During his visit, Mr Ryall also awarded nursing staff in Tauranga's Ward 3A surgical ward a certificate for being the first ward in New Zealand to fully implement the Releasing Time to Care - Productive Ward programme.
The programme aims to free up nurses so they can spend more time with patients. Nurse manager Carolyn Gent said the programme had resulted in reduced medication errors, happier staff and patients, increased patient safety and a staff turnover of almost zero.
The new intensive care unit also includes two negative pressure isolation rooms, which clinical nurse manager Julia Braid said would be used during an epidemic.
Tauranga Hospital carries out 3500 endoscopies a year as well as infusions and transfusions, with the 20 beds and five chairs now available in the new medical day stay area, increasing the patient capacity in the unit by seven with room for the unit to further expand.
