The government says the two largest buildings at Nelson Hospital, the Percy Brunette Block on the left and the George Manson Block on the right, will be refurbished and a new inpatient building with 128 beds will be built by 2029. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
The government is not disclosing how much money it's committing to the redevelopment of Nelson Hospital, but it's clear Labour's plans for a billion dollar rebuild are off the table.
The government has announced it will fund a new 128-bed inpatient building that will be built by 2029 and will refurbish the two main existing buildings, as part of a $1 billion health infrastructure funding boost in Budget 2025.
It has not disclosed the cost of the new building, citing commercial sensitivities.
The current hospital has 163 beds and six operating theatres.
Labour's plan was for a new acute services building with 255 beds at a cost of $1.1b.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said the redeveloped hospital would have 207 "points of care", but did not clarify what they were, and an additional 41 overnight medical/surgical beds compared to the current hospital.
Nelson MP Rachel Boyack says the people of Nelson are still waiting to see the master plan for the Nelson Hospital redevelopment, despite being promised it by the end of 2024. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Nelson MP Rachel Boyack has labelled the government's plan a downgrade.
"Labour had committed to funding one large acute services building for Nelson that would have cost $1.1 billion, but today's budget makes no mention of our planned acute services building.
"Instead, they have committed to building a smaller building, but my concern is that that won't provide for the needs of Nelson's ageing and growing population."
But the Health Minister said Labour rescoped the Nelson Hospital redevelopment before leaving office, changing it to a staged approach.
Brown said the government was now providing certainty by getting on with the development.
"Despite promising to start the project during their last term, Labour failed to deliver. For all their rhetoric, not a single shovel touched the ground. In the end, they talked big but left behind only delays and broken promises."
It's not clear how many beds in total there will be in the redeveloped hospital.
Cabinet had approved the business case to build a refurbished hospital in six stages at an estimated cost of $1.098 billion in 2023, with $73 million set aside for the design work.
Last August, then Health Minister Shane Reti said the plan had changed to include a series of smaller builds alongside the refurbishment and seismic strengthening of the two main hospital buildings.
Former Health Minister Dr Shane Reti outside Nelson Hospital after announcing the change in plans for its redevelopment. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
The $1b health infrastructure investment in Budget 2025 will be spread across several other projects, including a new emergency department at Wellington Regional Hospital, the remediation of Palmerston North Hospital and improving critical Auckland hospital infrastructure.
Boyack said the government needed to release the master plan and business case for the redevelopment as it had promised to do before the end of 2024.
"The people of Nelson really want to know exactly what is going to be built, how many beds and exactly where on the site and they haven't received that information so it leaves [them] in the dark once more."
Boyack said she was concerned about the overall level of investment in health, given that the government's health infrastructure plan said more than $20 billion was needed.
"This budget offers up just a pittance of that with $1 billion, and so it doesn't actually provide the certainty that our new hospital will be built and funded."
Budget 2025's $1 billion in health infrastructure funding will go towards the redevelopment of Nelson Hospital, a new emergency department at Wellington Regional Hospital, the remediation of Palmerston North Hospital and improving critical Auckland hospital infrastructure. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Meanwhile, Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said the investment in Nelson Hospital was "a huge sum for a small region at a time when government is grappling with large deficits and growing debt".
He said the new building would be six storeys high and larger than the existing two buildings at 11,000m2.
The government has not said where the building would be located.
Smith said it was the government's largest investment and biggest project ever for Nelson and the plan was affordable and deliverable.
"It addresses the major issues of our shortage of beds, the poor conditions of existing wards and the earthquake strengthening."
He said the council would now work closely with government and Health NZ to progress the resource and building consents as quickly as possible to get the build underway efficiently.
In April, hundreds of people gathered at Nelson Hospital at a rally calling for better facilities and improved staffing. Photo: RNZ/Samantha Gee
A man who started a parliamentary petition this month calling for a full rebuild of Nelson Hospital said the redevelopment plans were like "putting a fresh coat of paint over a mouldy wall and not fixing or addressing the hospital as a whole".
Daniel Walker was diagnosed with testicular cancer last year after at least a seven-week delay, that meant he was forced to have invasive surgery after the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes in his abdomen.
He has since become an advocate for a new hospital, alongside the senior doctors and nurses who have spoken out about the dire state of the hospital buildings, with staffing shortages and run-down facilities putting patients at risk and leading to blown-out wait lists.
Health NZ sent a team of senior clinicians to Nelson Hospital last month to look further into the issues that had been raised.
Chief clinical officer Richard Sullivan was among them and he said there was "no doubt" some of the facilities definitely need significant improvement or rebuilding and that the number of beds was a challenge.
The Nelson Hospital redevelopment has been on the table for at least a decade, due to the increasing demands from a growing population. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Health NZ deputy chief executive Te Waipounamu Martin Keogh said an independent support team had been established to review the issues that had been raised, assess the appropriateness of the existing programmes of work and to address access to care issues at Nelson.
It would provide reports and recommendations on any other concerns within the next month.
"These will be submitted to the Health NZ Executive Leadership Team to review and agree actions to improve the situation as quickly as possible for patients and staff."
Walker said he was concerned a new inpatient building had been designed and approved before those reports from Health NZ had been finalised, which could result in the delivery of a building that was not fit for purpose.
"It's not setting up for the future just re-purposing old facilities and building and shifting departments to a new smaller building... it's just kicking the ball down the road to have same problems in 5-10 years time."
He's hoping to get 10,000 signatures on the petition and take it to parliament himself and present it to the Select Committee for consideration.
"We have one shot at this and now's the time for people to speak up."
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