Hawke’s Bay Hospital opens new 28-bed ward to relieve pressure
Hawke’s Bay Hospital’s new 28-bed modular ward has opened, a milestone that Health NZ says will reduce pressure on existing wards.
There are now 381 beds across the entire hospital, after a new inpatient ward opened on Monday.
The new ward connects to the main hospital building via a corridor and includes a mix of one- and two-bedroom rooms.
It will be used for short-stay surgical patients and assessments, and patients will begin using the facility from today.
It took nine months to construct and was built in modules in Auckland and then put together on site in Hastings.
The initial estimated cost was $28 million.
Health Minister Simeon Brown was on hand for the opening and said the final price tag was “commercially sensitive”, given similar projects were ongoing at other hospitals.
Hawke’s Bay Hospital is the first of five hospitals to receive a new rapid-build inpatient ward.
More than 30 full-time equivalent staff, mainly nurses, have been hired to staff the ward.
The hospital confirmed those roles included 13 nurses new to Hawke’s Bay Hospital as well as staff moving from other areas of the hospital.
“It’s exciting to see this development at a hospital that has been needing extra beds for a very, very long time,” Brown said.
It is officially known as an interim inpatient unit, and Brown said it was designed with a 50-year lifespan.
“Ultimately, the next step here at Hawke’s Bay Hospital is the rebuild - a new acute services building [and] inpatient facility - and this is here for as long as needed until that infrastructure is built.
“But this is a really important step to increase capacity in the interim, because this hospital needs additional beds.”
It was announced this year that a new acute services building was planned for the hospital, to feature a new emergency department and intensive care unit among other services.
When asked if construction on that building would begin within the next election term, if a National-led coalition were re-elected, Brown said it was too early to put a timeframe on it.
“I don’t want to give any expectations which can’t be met,” he said.
“But today is a first step ... so that the hospital has capacity quickly as we then prepare for the major new rebuild that is coming to Hawke’s Bay.”
Health NZ group director of operations David Warrington said the new 28-bed ward was a welcome addition.
“This will help improve patient flow across the hospital, reduce pressure on existing wards, and support more patients receiving care in the right place at the right time.”
He said for staff moving from other parts of the hospital to work on the new ward, most roles they’d left had since been filled.
A $44.8 million cancer centre is being built next to the new inpatient ward.
That follows a $35.8 million radiology expansion and refurbishment at the hospital.