I raised concerns in June that redevelopment plans for Nelson Hospital had stalled.
Council is particularly concerned that the statutory requirement we administer for earthquake strengthening is met by 2028. We welcome the Health Minister’s announcement last Friday of $73 million for the design but we will need to keep up our advocacy to get the job done.
The two main tower blocks at Nelson Hospital – the Percy Brunette and George Manson – were built more than 60 years ago. They do not meet modern seismic standards and would likely be unusable after a major earthquake. They were rated as the worst hospital facilities in a nationwide survey in 2020.
Nor do we have sufficient beds and operating theatres for our growing and ageing population. The good news in Friday’s announcement is that the number of hospital beds is to be expanded from 161 to 255, theatres from six to eight and a new emergency department twice the current size.
There is a healthy level of scepticism about last Friday’s announcement 10 weeks from the General Election. The Government failed to deliver on the previous Labour Health Minister Andrew Little’s statement in January 2021 that the “new building will be commenced before the end of this term of Parliament, absolutely” and that “the George Manson building has to come down”. The new plan now has this building retained.
Important questions remain. The funding is only for the design. Where is the commitment of $1 billion to build it? Where will the parking be for staff and patients now the new building is to be built there? Will the new facility retain an early childhood centre for staff? How will our city house the 1000 workers required at the peak of construction? When will health professionals and the community be consulted on the design?
The redevelopment of Nelson Hospital is the most important infrastructure project for our region this decade. We will need to remain strong advocates, whomever is Government, to prevent further delays and to get a facility that will meet Nelson’s health needs for the future.
