A new purpose-built inpatient mental health facility in Waikato is one step closer to completion.
Waikato’s new acute mental health facility is nearing completion, with interior work now underway after the building was fully enclosed and made weather-tight.
The new adult acute inpatient facility, which will replace the ageing Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre at Waikato Hospital, is expected to begin taking patients in December, several months later than originally planned.
Construction officially started in 2023, and it was initially meant to open in September.
Once completed, the $131.2 million development will comprise an 8000sq m facility with 64 single inpatient rooms.
It will have larger rooms, with access to natural light and outdoor courtyards.
Designed to support people experiencing acute mental distress, the facility will focus on recovery, dignity and well-being in a safer and more therapeutic environment.
It’s planned that wards 34, 35, 36 and 41 will relocate to the new building in late December.
The Midland regional forensic psychiatric service, Puawai, completed in 2012, will remain at the Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre.
The Government announced last year that forensic mental health services in the Midland region would receive a $51m funding boost over the next four years, which includes 10 new acute inpatient beds at the Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre.
Waikato group director of operations Stephanie Doe said the development of the new adult acute inpatient facility would help improve access to mental health services and reduce pressure across the wider health system.
“It will ease pressure across the wider system, including emergency departments, by ensuring appropriate inpatient capacity is available when people need it most.”
Doe said clinicians, people with lived experience, mana whenua and community partners had helped shape the facility to support privacy, cultural safety and recovery, while also creating a safer environment for staff.
The regional mental health and addictions lead for Te Manawa Taki, Vicki Aitken, said reaching the weather-tight stage was a significant milestone.
“It’s been great to watch the facility take shape and to see the level of care and effort going into its development.
“That gives real confidence this will be a space that supports people, both tangata whaiora [people seeking health] and the staff who work alongside them.”
When asked why the facility would open in December and not September, as planned, Aitken said timelines for large-scale construction projects were indicative and may change as work progresses.
The wider programme of work represents a total investment of $176.5m and includes the new mental health facility, renal service upgrades and associated infrastructure requirements.
After the 2022 government announcement, the approved detailed business case allocated $131.2m for a 64-bed adult mental health facility and $44.4m for the relocation and replacement of the Waikato Regional Renal Centre.
“The increase in overall costs reflects updated design standards, inflation, and compliance requirements over the life of the project,” Aitken said.
“Our focus remains on delivering a safe, modern facility that will support improved mental health outcomes for the Waikato community.”
The facility’s name is yet to be confirmed.
Aitken said it will be revealed closer to opening as part of the formal blessing and opening process.
Aitken said the name Te Pae Tawhiti, which was previously mentioned in the media, referred to the broader programme aimed at transforming mental health services and supporting tāngata whaiora, whānau, and staff through the new facility.
“It is not the official name of the building itself.”
The new adult acute inpatient facility replaces the existing one at the Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre, which has 53 beds and has been deemed no longer suitable for contemporary approaches to mental healthcare.
The project follows years of concern over conditions at the centre, dating back to at least 2015.
In 2020, Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier described conditions in several wards as degrading because of overcrowding, high use of seclusion and restraint, and limited opportunities for recovery.
Inspectors found wards operating at 130% capacity, with communal areas and offices being used as bedrooms, while concerns were also raised around patient privacy and staff burnout.
In 2023, the centre’s operations manager, Kylie Balzer, told the Hamilton District Court it was “heartbreaking” that a patient had been forced to live in a converted interview room due to pressure on the facility.
Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. Before he joined the Hamilton-based team, he worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive. He previously worked as a journalist at Black Press Media in Canada and won a fellowship with the Vancouver Sun.