Last Saturday was one of those times when you feel really proud to be part of something.
That's how I felt standing in the foyer of Dunedin Hospital as Prime Minister Bill English and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman announced the next stage in the journey to build Dunedin a new hospital.
The Prime Minister told us the Government had decided to build a brand new $1.2illion to $1.4billion hospital for Dunedin, either on a new site in the city, or on Southern District Health Board land at Wakari.
I think this is the first time in recent history that a town or city in New Zealand is set to get an entire new purpose-built hospital.
What a fantastic opportunity to create the most modern hospital in New Zealand, with all the latest technology and the place for ill and injured people from Dunedin and the Southern region to get the best possible care - for the next 50 years!
As chairman of the Southern Partnership Group that is leading the planning, along with the Southern District Health Board and the Ministry of Health, I am not taking the opportunity or the responsibility lightly.
Take the indicative business case for the new hospital which has just been released. During that process, we looked at all the possible options, from fixing up the ward block and squeezing the new buildings on the existing site next door to the university facilities, to building a big new hospital from scratch on a greenfields site, and pretty much everything in between.
Identifying and analysing the options has been challenging. We've had our moments - including the discovery that parts of the hospital were in a lot worse shape than first thought. So bad, it became apparent it was going to cost more to shore up the ward block than it would be to build a new one.
Then there has been some criticism around town that we're not listening to the community. That couldn't be farther from the truth.
You may remember last year the SDHB had district-wide patient listening sessions. This initiative engaged with hundreds of patients in Dunedin, Invercargill, Oamaru, Alexandra, Wanaka and Queenstown. It canvassed a broad range of opinions which has informed our planning and strategy for providing up-to-the-minute healthcare to southerners.
We have also talked to clinical teams, the city council, the medical school and more. And our advisers held a number of workshops following and analysing the journeys patients follow in receiving their healthcare under various scenarios. That is the kind of information that helps our designers lay out and configure a new hospital.
Building hospitals is a highly expert and specialised skill. It requires hospital construction experts and experienced health planners and technologists working together - and putting the patient first. Be assured our patients' needs now and into the future, and the experience for our staff, is at the forefront of our planning and will continue to be as we move into the detailed planning and design.
We look like we will be spending more than $1 billion of taxpayers' money. We need to be sure what we build with all that money will result in the absolute right hospital to meet the health needs of southern people for the next 50 years.
Now Cabinet has approved our indicative business case, it has given us the nod to get on deciding once and for all where we will build Dunedin Hospital. Dr Coleman told us on Saturday that although building on the DHB's current site at Wakari is an option, the Government's preference is for the hospital to be in a central city location if a suitable block of land can be found and all consents obtained without delaying the project or blowing out costs.
We'll be giving priority to that for the next few months. I can't tell you much about potential new sites for the option of building fresh in the city just yet as that is going to be commercially sensitive.
I know there is nothing more frustrating than waiting for results. It is easy and tempting to start speculating and thinking negatively during the wait.
I hope you agree getting a brand spanking new hospital is an amazing opportunity for Dunedin - I make you a promise; our partnership group and the project teams are doing everything in our power to make the new hospital is worthy of the people of the South and one you will all be proud to have supported.
