Tauranga Grace Hospital owners invest $15m into expanding facilities

Grace Hospital general manager Janet Keys.

Owners of Tauranga’s only general private hospital have invested millions of dollars into expanding its facilities, services and car parking as demands for healthcare services in the region climb.

Joint owners of Grace Hospital - Evolution Healthcare and Southern Cross Healthcare - have announced they would spend more than $15 million on the developments alongside property partner Vital Healthcare Property Trust.

The developments will happen in phases.

Starting this week, Bay Civil will lead a three-month development to expand Grace Hospitals’ car parking space with an extra 37 parks.

Phase two was a larger development taking place over 12 months, with the expansion of the hospital’s endoscopy unit.

Starting in the second half of 2023 will be Grace Hospital’s major development to the facility’s west wing.

This will include a 10-bed inpatient ward and extensions to the specialist service areas of operating theatres, sterilising, procurement, and biomedical departments.

Grace Hospital general manager Janet Keys said more people were needing complex surgeries with overnight recovery.

“Our new 10-bed inpatient ward and support services expansion will provide efficiencies and patient throughput for these higher acuity services.”

In 2022, Evolution Healthcare and Southern Cross commissioned two modern operating theatres, increasing the theatre suite to nine to support the community’s need for elective surgeries.

Keys said that since opening, Grace Hospital had cared for more than 1000 patients in its new theatres, increasing the number of patients so far this financial year to 8800.

“Our nine theatres are highly utilised, with our staff and specialists completing around 170 surgical procedures a week for our community.”

Keys said Evolution Healthcare and Southern Cross were working with the hospital on future developments to increase capacity for the increasing number of patients with additional operating theatres, a larger recovery unit, and more inpatient beds.

“This will allow us to maintain the efficient and effective private surgical services Grace Hospital is known for in our region.”