The veterinary facility's future would be uncertain under a recent proposal by Education Minister Chris Hipkins.
Through the minister's plan all 16 New Zealand polytechnics would merge into a single entity.
Dunedin Wildlife Hospital Trust chairman Steve Walker said polytechnic chief executive Phil Ker and his executive team took a "leap of faith" when supporting the venture.
"The starting point is the very fact that the polytech is our principal partner.
"Without their support and vision it's very unlikely we'd have a wildlife hospital in Dunedin and we would not be able to offer hope to so many of New Zealand's critical species."
The facility opened as a full-time operation in January last year.
It operates from the polytechnic's Forth St School of Veterinary Nursing building.
"We needed a premises. The capital cost of having that premises is substantial and the polytech pays for electricity and the cost of getting the place upgraded."
The polytechnic also partly underwrote the wage of its head veterinarian Lisa Argilla, he said.
Likely from next year the polytechnic would also offer a wildlife veterinary course through the facility.
"We're in the process of embedding a Wildlife Hospital programme into the curriculum.
"The two things that are most important to Dunedin, wildlife and education, are sort of magnified by the existence of the Wildlife Hospital."
When the education reform proposal was announced there was concern on the board about the uncertainty this could create.
"During the last trust board meeting we passed a motion to support Otago polytech."
It would make submissions on the proposal in support of the polytechnic.
Wildlife Hospital founder Lisa Argilla said she first approached the polytechnic in early 2015, after thinking about the concept for a few years.
It was frustrating to her when in Dunedin and the Catlins that all she could do was patch up animals and send them to the North Island for care because of a lack of wildlife veterinary facilities in the South.
She pitched the hospital idea to School of Veterinary Nursing head Jeanette O'Fee who was "amazingly supportive" and suggested the polytechnic could be interested in hosting it.
She resigned from her job at Wellington Zoo later that year.
"Having Otago Polytechnic's support was pivotal because as you can imagine it is terrifying resigning from a good job to pursue a project that might not eventuate."
Through this partnership, Dr Argilla ran pop-up penguin hospitals in 2016 and 2017, before the wildlife hospital opened full time.
