Tauranga Hospital will get its biggest revamp since opening 40 years ago with a $110 million upgrade.
Health Minister Annette King and Tauranga-based list MP Margaret Wilson today said work would start immediately on the redevelopment, which is expected to finish in February 2009.
The project will upgrade and streamline disconnected wardsand departments that have long been considered a risk to patient safety.
It will be "future-proofed" for two or three decades, meaning the hospital will be able to meet changes in surgical techniques and equipment.
It is the biggest public health project in the Bay of Plenty since the current Tauranga Hospital was built in the 1960s.
The Bay of Plenty District Health Board will be able to draw as needed on $110 million put up by the Government -- and will pay another $53 million of its own money towards the project.
Work will start with upgrades of the medical and surgical wards and outpatient services, and the building of 10 new operating theatres.
Day-patient beds will more than double from 18 to 44, while in-patient beds will rise to 334 from 288 .
The second stage will include the consolidation of maternity and antenatal services and the special care baby unit into the main hospital building.
Patients being rushed to the hospital's emergency department in the future can expect quicker care, with room for 41 patients compared to the current capacity of 22. A new 20-bed acute assessment unit on the ground floor will allow better patient flow through the emergency department and trim unnecessary in-patient admissions.
The rest of the work will be staggered over the remaining two years and will include improved parking.
There will be a major upgrade of all building services and a new helipad will also be built.
Ms King said the Western Bay of Plenty was one of the fastest growing communities with its population of elderly residents exceeding the national average.
The Bay health board's chairwoman, Mary Hackett, said the project would give locals the hospital they deserved.
"The increased size of the hospital means that people will be seen in a more timely way and the number of patients seen will increase to meet the demands of the growing population ."
Advertising for a project manager will start next week but actual physical work on site is not expect to begin until March next year.
