The new North Shore Hospital building under construction. Photo / Michael Craig
The new North Shore Hospital building under construction. Photo / Michael Craig
The roof is about to go on the new $300 million-plus Tōtara Haumaru North Shore Hospital building in a $600 million upgrade of services for New Zealand's most populous health area.
Dr Dale Bramley, former Waitematā District Health Board chief executive, said nearly $500 million had been earmarked for theexpansion and upgrade of health services in New Zealand's largest population catchment area.
A board spokesperson said today this had risen to $600m after further Government funding was provided.
The Waitematā District Health Board - now Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand - has 630,000 people but by 2036/37, it is expected to have more than 800,000 people, he said in 2020.
The new building is the biggest upgrade in around 40 years, since North Shore Hospital's main tower block was built in the early 1980s, he said.
In 2018, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Government would spend $224m on extra beds at the North Shore Hospital and new facilities at Whangārei Hospital. Most of the money would go to a new elective unit on the shore to provide for an extra 120 beds and four operating theatres, she said then.
Demolition of ageing non-clinical hospital buildings started in 2019 to make way for the new building, due to be opened next year.
In November 2020, Hawkins Construction won the contract and since last January has been working on the site between the main existing hospital building and Taharoto Rd opposite Smales Farm.
The contract was described as being for a $200m building now latest communication from the district health board put it at $300m.
Steel-framed construction at the Takapuna site. Photo / Michael Craig
"Tōtara Haumaru is now a just-over $300m project after further funding was provided by the Government to support the building being constructed to an importance level 4 standard and for fit-out of the remaining theatres, endoscopy procedure rooms and ward. This has increased the overall capital programme for the Waitematā district for upgrades to future-proof services and facilities to over $600," the board spokesperson said today.
"The project is on budget and on time with construction still on schedule for completion in December 2023 and wards beginning to open to the public in early 2024," the spokesperson said.
The project is four new wards with 120 beds, four new operating theatres, new endoscopy suites, clinical support services spaces and an extended sky bridge to connect the new surgical hospital to the main hospital tower block.
Building within the existing hospital grounds. Photo / Michael Craig
Hawkins is now up to level three of the block and has a Pollock crawler crane and two fixed 357 Liebherr tower cranes in operation on the site.
Liebherrs are some of the largest tower cranes operating in New Zealand, able to lift the heaviest loads. Large spans of steel, each component weighing many tonnes, make up the high-tech new building's superstructure.
The site is in the middle of the hospital grounds and people in the area complained to the Herald about traffic issues on surrounding streets with such a large workforce on-site, people accessing and exiting hospital grounds and nearby schools.
"Where will the staff for this huge new building come from?" one North Shore hospital staffer asked the Herald. "We're already so short staffed yet when this opens, we're all asking where people will come from to provide all the extra services that will be offered."
The new block is rising between Taharoto Rd and the existing hospital tower block. Photo / Michael Craig
The structural steel framed building is being built from pre-fabricated elements. Structural steel components are being manufactured by Henderson-headquartered D&H Steel Construction, one of the larger businesses specialising in this segment of the market.
Hawkins has specialised in state projects lately, working at Auckland University and Auckland Airport. Large Government projects were now its mainstay, industry observers said. Private apartments were not a staple part of the business but education and health construction were.
"That Government work will be seen by the new overseas owners as being a better bet," one construction chief said of the business now owned by Downer.
In 2017, Downer bought many Hawkins projects, agreed assets, the forward pipeline of work and employees.
North Shore Hospital has been under pressure for years.
In early August, the Herald reported how a woman was left lying in a hospital bed soaked in her own urine for 14 hours, while another patient was forced to wait for eight hours in North Shore Hospital's emergency department.
Locals say the area has become far more congested with the project underway. Photo / Michael Craig
The allegations came as North Shore Hospital battles near-capacity and significant staffing pressures — and a day after the Government announced a plan to boost the number of health workers by easing the process for overseas nurses and provision of up to $10,000 in financial support.
A woman who spoke to the Herald on condition of anonymity, claimed her mum, who was admitted to the hospital with sepsis, was left lying in a bed in her own urine for 14 hours.
While the hospital wouldn't comment on the woman's allegations, it encouraged the public to pass on their concerns about the level of service.
"We always encourage patients to give us feedback on their care, including when things didn't go as we might have hoped," a hospital spokesperson said.
Across at Epsom, another hospital is being expanded. A big new wing is being built at the private Mercy Hospital where other buildings are being upgraded.
Dr Ian England, chief executive of MercyAscot Private Hospitals, said the three-year programme to transform the property at 98 Mountain Rd started last year.
A new 6435sq m four-level 9m-high wing would have operating theatres, a new intensive care unit with high-dependency beds and a new ward with single patient bedrooms, he said.
Once work is done, Mercy's floor area will be expanded from 17,000sq m to 23,000sq m.
Additional upgrades of the existing buildings and grounds had also begun to ensure specialists and staff could provide the best care for people England said.
