Northland MP Willow-Jean Prime and Andrew Little at the announcement of funding for the new Whangārei Hospital. Photo / Michael Cunningham
A new hospital will be built in Whangārei - but some are saying the plan is not without its pitfalls.
Health Minister Andrew Little made the announcement at the hospital yesterday, accompanied by Labour MPs Emily Henderson (Whangārei) and Willow-Jean Prime (Northland).
Construction would begin on the new hospital in 2026, and be completed by 2031. The first stage would cost $759m and the second stage around $200m, although that is yet to be finalised.
Previously, the Northland DHB petitioned the Government for a $944m development but less than $800m of funding was available at the time. Due to this, project was split into two stages.
“Final funding decisions on that stage will be made when planning is completed and a more accurate picture of costs is known,” Little said.
In the 2021 Budget, the Government committed $572m to the rebuild.
Northland-based list MP and National Party health spokesman Shane Reti said there were issues with the Government’s plan for the new hospital building.
“I think it’s good and it’s needed but here’s the problem - just building a hospital doesn’t staff it... He [Little] should be focused more on building up the health workforce than more photo opportunities for a rehashed announcement.”
Reti said the splitting of funding for the two stages was an issue.
“From what I’m hearing it’s not going to maximise the business case and they will need to go back in 2024 and ask for another $200m... they’re going to have to go back on bended knees in 2024 and make their case again.”
The redevelopment of the hospital was announced in May as part of the Budget, but a final figure was not put on the cost at the time. Funding was only given final approval by Cabinet this week.
Reti said National would build up the workforce through three different methods, including bringing in more nurses from offshore.
“Secondly, those nurses who are driving Uber Eats, already permanent residents that can’t be credentialed, we’ll credential them, and thirdly we’ll turn on the domestic pipeline through medical schools and nursing schools so we grow our own culturally competent nurses and doctors.”
Whangārei Hospital had 14 vacancies for nurses in the emergency department, according to a response given to parliamentary questions, Reti said.
Little said following the announcement at Whangārei Hospital yesterday he was confident the new hospital could be adequately staffed, with the measures already in place.
In August, the Government announced several measures to boost the health workforce in August, including training more doctors and nurses and providing immigration support services for health workers moving to the country.
Little said, in announcing the funding, he had previously visited Whangārei Hospital to see the conditions for himself.
“I saw things I don’t think I’ve seen in any hospital before, in terms of the conditions. I saw an ED that was struggling to cope.”
Dr Nick Chamberlain, Te Whatu Ora national director and former chief executive of the Northland District Health Board, said the current hospital was safe, despite issues in the past.
“We’ve had a number of concerns over the years and we’ve addressed them. Right now the hospital’s in as safe a condition as it was 10 years ago.”
The current hospital building has had multiple issues in recent years, including raw sewage leaking down the walls of the medical wing, which was discovered last year.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo expressed concern over the long timeline for the rebuild.
“This funding announcement is fantastic news for our region. However, I strongly feel that construction needs to start far sooner than 2026, as the growth of our region is happening faster than current predictions.
“With our rapid growth, we need to be thinking long term. Northland has an ageing population, a growing number of disabled people, and a high-needs socio-economic environment.
“We need to ensure this base hospital for Northland is sized appropriately to account for our identified high growth. We need to start construction now, to be ahead of the game.”
Cocurullo said there was a risk the funding would not cover the price of construction due to escalating costs in the sector.
The plans for stage one of the project included an acute services building with a much larger emergency department, 10 operating theatres, a coronary care unit and modern intensive care facilities.
A child health unit was also part of the first stage, and would include a whānau house and emergency accommodation for families to stay with their children.
Stage two would include a 158-bed ward tower, with four medical and surgical wards and an acute assessment unit.
The funding came from the Government’s $7b hospital rebuilding programme.