The government has been accused of reheating old announcements as the health minister was on site yesterday at the new Dunedin hospital.
Health Minister Simeon Brown was in the city yesterday to mark the resumption of work for the inpatient building.
He announced a timeline and the return of an engagement group which will help ensure the local community is kept informed as the project progresses.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich, also present at the ceremony, said the group would bring together Health New Zealand (HNZ) leaders and a range of local stakeholders, including representatives from local government, infrastructure partners and tertiary institutions, to provide regular updates and support ongoing engagement throughout the project.
The group will not provide advice on the building’s design scope, clinical models of care or procurement decisions.
Mr Brown also marked the beginning of a six-month job capping piles and pouring concrete to begin the resumption of work.
"We’re focused on the future today, we’re focused on getting this building delivered and that’s why we’ve got construction back under way here and that’s my priority."
Former head of the emergency department Dr John Chambers was somewhat cynical.
"There seems to a bit of a drip feed of stories to reassure us that progress is being made.
"Let’s hope there are no more hiccups between now and September when the decision about the building contractor is to be finalised."
Dr Chambers said the past two to three years has been "a sort of planning paralysis" and "we are close to being back to where we were — not least assisted by the intervention of the 35,000 citizens who marched last year and a sustained campaign by the city council".
"The current stories about psychogeriatric beds and reduced numbers of paediatric beds are also a reminder that planners have made a number of assumptions about future requirements which are still open to debate and require careful clinical oversight."
At the inpatients building site yesterday, Mr Brown confirmed the signing of the contract with CPB would happen "in the coming months", while a letter of intent had been signed between Health New Zealand and the Australian construction giant recently.
Ceres would be responsible for the pile capping and CPB would manage the substructure.
About 4300cum of concrete will be poured across the site, and about 490 tonnes of reinforcing steel used in total.
The next major construction phase was the substructure expected to begin in early 2026.
The 70,000sqm inpatient building is due to open in 2031.
The existing Dunedin hospital faces millions of dollars of expenditure to "keep the lights on" as well as other remedial issues.
Mr Brown acknowledged this.
"That’s why we’re building a new building because the old building has a number of challenges."
The government has also reappointed Evan Davies as Crown manager for the new Dunedin hospital project.
"I think Mr Davies is someone with enormous experience. We’re pleased to appoint him [as Crown manager] but, you know, he’s only recently been appointed.
"The Health New Zealand staff have been playing a critically important role in getting us to where we are here today."
Mr Brown visited the city in January to announce the government would progress with the new Dunedin hospital on the former Cadbury site.
In September, the government paused the project to consider whether to retrofit the existing hospital or progress with a new inpatients building.
