Diggers are back on the site, working on the foundations, and billboards have gone up proclaiming the involvement of Australian construction giant CPB which is expected to get the contract for the new inpatient building.
All of these things suggest action at last on the beleaguered project.
Questions remain about whether the hospital, in its scaled-back state, can possibly come in within its $1.88 billion budget and be sufficient to serve the population when it is hopefully completed in 2031.
Former head of the new hospital’s governance group Pete Hodgson estimates inflation alone would have added an extra $40 million in costs since the government stalled the project last September citing cost concerns.
There has been much airy talk of changed models of care affecting the demand for various services at the new hospital when it opens in 2031, without any detail of what this involves and how it will be achieved.
The whole of the health system still faces workforce shortages.
If changes mean moving to more care in the community, it is hard to understand how when basic issues such as boosting the pay of nurses working there to match their Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand counterparts remains unresolved. (The government seems to have conveniently forgotten Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, in the televised pre-election leaders’ debate, promised he would ensure they would be paid the same if he won the election.)
Mixed messaging from the government about the project continues.
In the New Zealand Gazette notice of the appointment which will bring back Evan Davies to the project, but this time in the supremo role of Crown manager, Health Minister Simeon Brown blamed delays and extra costs on HNZ, ignoring the role the government has played in that.
That seemed at odds with his on-site comment last week that HNZ staff had been "playing a critically important role in getting us to where we are here today".
During his visit Mr Brown announced the establishment of the Southern Engagement Group, to help ensure the local community was kept well informed as the project progresses.
The group will involve HNZ leaders and a variety of other representatives including local government, infrastructure partners and tertiary institutions to provide regular updates and support ongoing engagement throughout the project.
It will meet quarterly to consider "a broad range of matters relevant to the successful delivery of the hospital" but will not provide advice on the building’s design scope, clinical models of care or procurement decisions.
Although Mr Brown said he was making this announcement alongside Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich, basic questions posed to Mr Radich’s office about whether the meetings would be held in public, whether members would be free to speak about hospital matters outside the group and if the group’s terms of reference were finalised, were directed to HNZ.
At the time of writing no answers had been received. Not a great start to make such an announcement on a group supposedly designed to improve communication and then not have relevant details promptly available.
Making hay while the drizzle dries
There’s nothing quite like a closer-than-expected All Blacks game to take much of the nation’s minds momentarily off more important matters such as the fallout from the foul weather which has ravaged much of the country in recent days.
The sold-out All Blacks/France match would also have been a welcome midwinter fillip to Dunedin’s hospitality sector at a time when the cost of living continues to affect domestic spending.
It is an uneasy time for the local sector, as it awaits the impact of the competition from the new, bigger, covered Christchurch stadium expected to be completed next year and while Forsyth Barr Stadium continues to struggle financially and to attract major events.
