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A hospital is not usually a place people want to spend a lot of time in, let alone give up some of their Saturday to go to.
But about 1300 people jumped at the chance to explore the new Dunedin hospital outpatient building as part of a free community open day.
The new-build - one of New Zealand’s biggest health infrastructure projects - is expected to allow for thousands of more scans, day surgeries and specialist appointments each year.
Retired GP Sharleen was relieved to walk through the new building, saying it was beautiful and fit for purpose — unlike the old hospital [which] has not been for a long time.
"It feels like a bit of a rabbit warren at the moment but I think that's just a question of getting the signage and things sorted out and outfitted," she said.
"But I think it's going to be a wonderful building and it's really going to speed up outpatients and also have an impact on inpatients services by diverting some of the services over here - radiology and minor theatre."
She was not entirely sold on the check-in kiosks, but said staff had assured her that there would be plenty of people to support as well as a face-to-face option.
It was an excellent step-up for staff, she said.
"I think there's been a lot of mucking around over the whole build and we've taken a paired down service with reduced beds. We haven't been promised a PET scanner yet and I think really people have to step up and make this a top-level facility and not hold back."
Dunedin resident Elena Calvert was eager to check it out.
"We've been waiting for this building to open for probably a decade now, so as soon as they announced there's going to be tours we signed up because we'd love to see it on the inside and all the exciting things that we've heard about for such a long time.
"You'll never be able to see into those rooms unless you use them and ideally you don't want to use them for as long as possible."
The excitement from staff was contagious and she believed the new build would greatly benefit the region, Calvert said.
"It's a lovely space. It's so sunny, it's so bright, it's colourful, it's new. The colours are inviting, there's a story, there is great artwork."
Warren and Mahoney Architects principal David Mahon was involved in designing the outpatient building.
He believed it was important to design it in a way that gave back to the community and was well integrated, including a landscape buffer along Cumberland St and large windows overlooking historic buildings.
"Some those patients may only be in a room for say 15 or 20 minutes and it needs to be a nice environment for them.
"But at the same time, you've got staff that will be in this building for eight or nine hours a day. So access to daylight is a huge part of a working environment.
"So it gives back to them, as you say, just that those views out across the harbour, across the city, just really utilising them. They're a great natural sort of aspect for the project."
They worked with mana whenua and cultural advisers Aukaha for the aesthetic and functionality of the build, which included a dedicated space for iwi.
"The two buildings, actually one sits in the water, one sits on the land, along the historic, now reclaimed foreshore. So the two colours of the buildings reflect their sort of different locations.
"The inpatients which comes in the future will be blue and greens, whereas just the yellow is more reflective of the sands and the foreshore colouring ... it's just deeply, deeply embedded.
"It's not just a pattern making at the end. It was very much a co-design process throughout."
New Dunedin Hospital programme director Bridget Dickson was delighted to be able to welcome the community into the new building, saying it was a significant milestone and a long time coming.
"We know that people have been waiting for this opportunity to be able to come inside.
"They've been watching the building come out of the ground over the last couple of years and it's fabulous to be able to give this opportunity for people to see inside, see the modern fit for purpose facilities that will be beginning to deliver clinical care in the coming weeks."
One of the differences people might notice were the four full-sized operating theatres and four procedure rooms that boosted their ability for day surgeries, Dickson said.
It had been built with the patient in mind.
"We are aiming for the first year of the operation of this facility to be able to deliver 1700 more day surgery procedures.
"We are also aiming to be able to deliver 13,000 more imaging scans, and this includes being able to deliver MRI scans, CT scans and X-rays in our new facility here in the outpatient building."
There had already been tours for staff and their families and for people who needed a lower sensory tour.
The outpatient building was expected to be opened to patients next month but an official date has yet to be announced.
As for the inpatient building, Dickson said it was on time and on budget.
The 11-storey inpatient building was due to open in 2031.
