Minutes from a June 2023 meeting of the hospital’s Project Steering Group (PSG) — a group which troubleshooter Evan Davies chaired — state he felt compelled to step down because a work promotion had caused "an increase in workload".
He had been promoted by gas and property company Todd — his day-job employer — to group chief executive.
He still holds that post in addition to the new role of Crown manager for the hospital build, to which he was appointed by Health Minister Simeon Brown this month.
When pressed by the Otago Daily Times, Mr Brown said Mr Davies would have overarching powers in the Crown manager role that trumped authority within Te Whatu Ora Health NZ (HNZ).
Mr Brown said Mr Davies "assumes the responsibilities and powers of HNZ for delivering the new Dunedin hospital".
The role included discretion over personnel appointments to the project.
There has not been a programme director for the build at HNZ since last November. The previous two incumbents both had hospital-building experience.
The minister said the appointment of Mr Davies "created a single point of accountability — making one person responsible for getting this hospital built for the people of Otago and Southland".
In his final PSG meeting of 2023, Mr Davies said he "wished everyone the best and good fortune" to complete the hospital build, adding that he considered it an "aspirational programme".
Mr Davies had been trying to lead the hospital build’s governance since the end of 2020. Between then and May 2023, the committee was known as the Executive Steering Group (ESG), set up by then Labour health minister Chris Hipkins.
In his now overarching role, Mr Davies has been set tasks that others before him have failed to achieve. Within three months, he is required to get a contract signed, with a building firm, for delivery of the in-patient building.
Health insiders said Mr Davies was a competent construction expert but two Dunedin MPs have expressed concern about his new role leading the hospital build.
Labour MP Ingrid Leary said his two jobs raised concerns as he "may not have time to do the job properly".
She said the lack of a HNZ programme director to deliver the build was a bigger concern and should be recruited in a "transparent, fair and contestable" way.
Green MP Scott Willis said: "Starving this project of investment and handing responsibility to someone with links to the fossil fuel industry will not help this situation."
Neither the minister nor HNZ answered questions about how much time Mr Davies would assign to his Crown manager tasks, nor whether Blake Lepper, head of infrastructure delivery at HNZ, was still considered the senior responsible officer for the hospital build.
