PHS moves to Wakari Hospital

Public Health South (PHS) will begin operations from new offices in the main block at Wakari Hospital from today.

PHS last week started moving out of rented premises in Hanover St.

About 70 staff went to Wakari and eight Sexual Health Clinic staff relocated to Dunedin Hospital, and would also start services today.

PHS group manager Pip Stewart said relocation was part of Master Site Planning, an Otago District Health Board scheme aimed at relieving "gridlock" at Dunedin Hospital and linking staff and equipment and gathering departments which worked closely together.

It would also align student facilities with wards and academic departments with which they worked closely.

"We had to create a business case for Master Site Planning because we needed extra funding from the Government to do much of the work.

"The business case shows why we need to do the work and why we cannot pay for it ourselves. We expect to find out this year if we are going to be given any funding, partial funding or full-funding.

"Then, we will have to work out whether we can afford to pay the associated costs. As a rule of thumb, interest and other costs on Government funding are about 10%.

"However, we are going ahead with Master Site Planning work we can do in the interim", she said.

The shift will save rent on the Hanover St premises, but the amount was commer-cially sensitive, Ms Stewart said.

Relocating PHS staff, alterations and re-furbishments which will benefit staff moving to the facility in future, such as upgrading the electrical reticulation system, a new emergency generator, and a new lift, would cost about $2.4 million.

The need to add extra shuttle services between Dunedin and Wakari Hospitals would be assessed as staff numbers at Wakari increased.

The Sexual Health Clinic will be located in an area previously used as the university photographic unit.