Frequently Asked Questions

We want the hospital to be built as promised. There has been significant investment in the new hospital already, and not building it as planned creates clinical risks. It means there’ll be workarounds, and people will fall through the gaps. The Government is trying to save money by not building the hospital as promised, but it will be the people of the South who pay. We need to act now!

With 350,000 people in the Otago and Southland region, the Southern Hospital services the largest region of any tertiary hospital in New Zealand. The hospital has an extensive helicopter rescue service that supports people in the regions. It’s also a teaching hospital, training the professionals who go on to serve in the health system throughout New Zealand.

Please donate to our Givealittle or buy a t-shirt.

Infometrics Chief Economist Brad Olsen, as quoted in “Costs could rise $10m per quarter: economist”, Otago Daily Times, 14 October 2024.

The ambulance has been loaned to the campaign for free and is being driven by volunteer drivers. The primary costs of the ambulance are branding ($2725) and fuel.

On 20 October 2024 Dunedin City Council voted to fund $146,099 for the campaign. That’s $1.10 for every person in Dunedin.

  • There are no significant cost advantages in refurbishing the old hospital – and the lifetime cost would be 50% more expensive
  • The building would be unusable after a serious earthquake
  • The façade has concrete cancer and the costs of remediation are high and ongoing
  • The old hospital can’t meet modern requirements. The column placement and low ceilings are unsuitable for 21st century equipment
  • Retrofitting would require emptying two floors at a time. It would be difficult to decant that quantity of patients somewhere else
  • The outpatients block is two city blocks away, and the distance would create inefficiencies
  • The building is inadequate for current practice. There is not enough power, the air conditioning is old, and the building cannot handle the air flow required to manage infection control

There was a small (less than $50m) cost advantage to building there as the land did not need to be purchased – but the cost of demolishing and replacing the existing buildings would have made it a more expensive option overall. The location is also less convenient for clinical staff and students. Teaching hospitals are usually near students.

  • It could cost as much to downscale it as it would to build it as promised
  • Changing the design will only result in further delays
  • Changes to the promised design will reduce clinical safety
  • In the slow-moving public health context, if we don’t build it right the first time, it’ll take a long time to fix

  • This figure has been arrived at by adding in things that were never part of the agreed scope or budget, e.g. a pathology laboratory ($45M) and parking (which can be delivered privately), and decommissioning the old hospital ($325M)
  • The costs of addressing ground contamination, mitigating flood risk and navigating busy roads would have been incurred in any central location. These costs have already been dealt with and the foundations have already been built
  • The Government is not revealing the current cost to build the hospital as planned. Reading through the redacted Rust Report, it appears to be about $2.2B

  • Hospitals are expensive. Every new tertiary hospital built in New Zealand will be the most expensive tertiary hospital ever built in New Zealand
  • There has been enormous building cost inflation since the last large hospital build in Christchurch a decade ago
  • There are few contractors in New Zealand capable of delivering large infrastructure projects
  • In context, the Southern Hospital build is not expensive or extravagant. The hospital has around 410-421 overnight beds, 53 ED beds and 15 theatres. By contrast, the new Adelaide hospital will have 414 beds, 43 ED beds and 14 theatres, and has a budget of $3.4B

  • $216M on tax cuts for the tobacco industry
  • $2.9B for the landlord tax break
  • $2B for Petone to Granada highway
  • $3B for four Poseidon P-8 Surveillance planes
  • $300M break fees and $424M sunk costs for cancelling the ferry upgrades

Dunedin’s first hospital is built in the Octagon

1851

Hospital moves to current site

1865

Hospital expanded, old buildings replaced, and lecture theatre added

1930s-80s

Hospital is built as we know it today.

Labour party campaigns on building new hospital

2017

Hospital announced to be built on old Cadbury factory site and neighbouring block by 2026

May 2018

Ministry of Health begins to reconsider hospital size to reduce budget

September 2022

Cuts confirmed, including a reduction in beds and MRI machines and delay of the PET-Scanner

December 2022

Pavilion building for staff is cut

January-March 2023

DCC and health professionals reject cuts, and launch the ‘They Save, We Pay’ (TSWP) campaign.

$10 million in cuts reversed and $97 million dedicated to the hospital’s data and digital infrastructure

April 2023

Health NZ, the University of Otago and Otago Polytech abandon plans for a learning centre

June 2023

National announces it will invest $30 million to restore cuts and build the hospital as originally planned if elected

July 2023

Labour reverses cuts to the pathology lab and 24 beds for elderly mental health patients. The TSWP campaign ceases

September 2023

Minister Reti says Govt is committed to the build, but refuses to confirm the $30 million will be honoured

January-June 2024

Government and Health NZ begin considering downgrading the NDH

August 2024

TWSP campaign relaunches, and coalition Government visits Dunedin to announce the NDH will be downgraded

September-October 2024

A march is held to protest cuts, and the campaign becomes ‘Save Our Southern Hospital’ with Cliff the ambulance to deliver our message.

Cliff heads to Wellington with the NZ Nurse’s Organisation to present the petition and deliver our message

November 2024