The Otago Daily Times has obtained a series of tender documents asking for a lead architect, engineering design services, and a quantity surveyor to work alongside Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) on the planned upgrade of the hospital.
HNZ’s acting group director of operations for Southern, Simon Donlevy, confirmed the project was going ahead.
‘‘The project is currently in the design stage, with a design tender now being progressed. Construction is expected to begin in mid to late 2027,’’ he said.
The documents said the partnership with HNZ would oversee the refurbishment, reconfiguration, and new fit-out works across the emergency department, perioperative areas, and Elm Court, together with full design progression for the first stage of a new replacement emergency department, which would occur while activity was ongoing in the present department.
HNZ documents reveal that these upgrades were well overdue.
‘‘Southland Hospital’s main clinical services buildings in Invercargill have remained largely unchanged from their original design in the early 2000s.
‘‘Health New Zealand have identified several areas within the facility that require upgrades or extension to better meet the evolving needs of the community.’’
This included some interim works to adjacent buildings and an expansion and partial refurbishment of the emergency department.
The interim works included creating staff workspace, staff amenities, a clinical procedure room, some off-site clinical records space and a 12-bay short stay unit.
The emergency department expansion would be a more significant (two-stage) build component, including a new ambulance bay, triage, resuscitation and mental health zone, together with a reconfiguration of acute care and support spaces.
In 2024, briefing papers to then-health minister Dr Shane Reti said Southland Hospital was experiencing ‘‘significant capacity constraints’’ in the emergency department.
Invercargill Mayor Tom Campbell said the revelation that upgrades were being planned was ‘‘obviously good news’’.
‘‘We’ve been crying out for something like this. It’s going to be great for the city.’’
HNZ would not give the current budget for upgrades to the hospital, but last year said $3 million had previously been allocated for theatre capacity and $5m for emergency department expansion.
The planning documents put a strong emphasis on not only the safety of the building, but the speed in which the upgrades were desired.
‘‘In the limited time available, we have intentionally kept this document concise with high-level descriptions of suggested services solutions provided to inform business case costings for the project.
‘‘All assumptions and proposals will require review and re-assessment in due course, should the project proceed beyond business case stage.’’
The upgrades will be ‘‘importance level 4’’ to allow use of the hospital after a significant seismic event or to have operational continuity for a one-in-500-year event.
