2021 & Beyond - Future Hospital Redesign
Whangarei Hospital’s future redevelopment aims to address three sets of property-related issues:
- Condition – the main block has seismic, fire safety and other condition issues
- Size and fitness for purpose – areas within the hospital are too small compared with space guidelines and they fail to meet other standards
- Overall capacity – demand either exceeds or will soon exceed physical capacity for inpatient beds, outpatient rooms, theatres and emergency department beds.
Northland DHB and the Ministry of Health have been investigating large-scale options for addressing these issues since 2015. An investment of $572m would replace a large section of the main hospital block, increase capacity and be a key enabler for our goal of addressing growing health inequities in Northland.
Whangarei Hospital’s preferred futuristic building design (Option 8 – see main feature image and image to the right) would utilise a large amount of development area available between Hospital Road Road and West End Ave, an area currently occupied by on-grade parking and several smaller ambulatory and accommodation buildings. This allows the main hospital to be developed as a series of connected buildings instead of a tall compact tower as suggested in hospital building designs Option 6 and 7.
The Option 8 design optimises clinic adjacency and future flexibility/growth whilst still providing the opportunity to connect back to the current main campus (which could become a future ambulatory and community zone) via a link bridge across Hospital Road.
An over $500 million investment in redeveloping Whangarei Hospital will also be very good for Northland’s economy – for 4-5 years we will have up to 500 extra builders, electricians, plumbers and various specialists working, earning, living, playing and spending in Northland.
We hope you have enjoyed looking back at the developments of Whangarei Hospital as we celebrate 120 years since it was first officially opened in 1901. We hope to have good news in the near future so we can start building a hospital that will be fit for purpose for the next 50 years and beyond.