Project Whakatupuranga – Nelson Hospital Redevelopment

Nelson Hospital Redevelopment masterplan soon to be released

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is soon to release the masterplan for Project Whakatupuranga – the Nelson Hospital Redevelopment. This plan will show Health New Zealand's commitment to delivering state-of-the-art healthcare infrastructure for the Nelson community.

After receiving $73 million in funding in 2023 for the detailed business case and initial enabling works, the hospital project team has been drawing on experiences from previous new builds across the country. Delays in larger, single builds have been challenging because of the scale and finding contractor capacity to do the work. This has led to a staged approach to the building being considered. More detail will be outlined in the masterplan, due to be released in the third quarter of this year.

"Following a staged approach allows the benefits to the areas in greatest need to happen sooner," said Lexie O’Shea – Group Director of Operations at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora. “Staged building will allow parts of the project to be completed sooner because of better collaboration with the construction industry, which will match its capacity and allow risk mitigation, as well as more certain delivery times.”

The masterplan is driven from population and health need modelling projections. These are currently being finalised to ensure the hospital capacity and capability is futureproofed and reflects the contemporary models of care the region needs. 

In tandem with the redevelopment efforts, Health NZ has commenced earthquake strengthening works on the George Manson building at the Nelson Hospital. These essential works, due for completion by 2025, are part of broader work to increase the safety and resilience of hospital infrastructure to comply with Earthquake Prone Building (EPB) notices.

This is the first stage of a programme of earthquake strengthening works in the George Manson and Percy Brunette buildings. Bringing these buildings up to standard is a crucial first step for the Nelson Hospital Redevelopment.

We would like to reassure staff and patients that both the George Manson and Percy Brunette buildings are safe to occupy and that health services will only be minimally impacted while this work is underway.

We are taking every possible step to reduce the noise and disruption to staff, patients and whānau, and we thank everyone in advance for their patience while we carry out these strengthening works.