Project Whakatupuranga – Nelson Hospital Redevelopment

The Government has confirmed over half a billion dollars will be invested over four years to deliver the second stage of Nelson Hospital’s re-development.

The Honourable Nicola Willis, Minister of Finance, and the Honourable Simeon Brown, Minister of Health, travelled to Nelson on May 26 and announced it will be one of the first hospitals to benefit from the Government’s $1 billion investment in hospital infrastructure.

 As part of this investment, the hospital site will undergo a major redevelopment, including the construction of a new inpatient building by 2029. This new inpatient building will include 128 beds – 41 more than the current capacity – along with an acute assessment unit, transit lounge, and other dedicated spaces for services.

To support care delivery during the construction period, the Ministers also announced Nelson will also be the first hospital in the country to receive one of the Government’s new modular inpatient units. These 28 to 32-bed units are transportable and designed to quickly add capacity where it’s most needed. Ours is expected to be delivered within the next 12 months.

In addition to the new build, the George Manson and Percy Brunette buildings will be refurbished and seismically strengthened. A new Energy Centre will support critical hospital infrastructure, and we’ll see digital upgrades to help enable more modern models of care. Further business cases will deliver additional improvements.

You can read more about the Ministers announcement.
Media release: Government to deliver redevelopment of Nelson Hospital (external link)

The first phase - Project One - for the hospital is already underway and involves the early enabling works including design development, early strengthening works to reduce seismic risk and initial works to make the campus ready for future construction. The Detailed Business Case (DBC) for Nelson Redevelopment Project 2 was released soon after the Ministers’ announcement - this outlines a plan to adopt more efficient healthcare models and expand capacity to support Nelson’s growing and ageing population and builds on Project One’s works and is part of a broader, long-term plan.

Project Two is the cornerstone of the redevelopment and includes:

• A new inpatient building – designed with flexible spaces, modern layouts, and improved patient/staff flow 
• A new Energy Centre – providing resilient, efficient infrastructure to support hospital operations
• Refurbishment of the George Manson Building – along with the ground floor of Percy Brunette, once Assessment, Treatment and Rehabilitation (AT&R) services relocate to the Inpatient unit including kitchen upgrades to support future growth.

Nelson-Marlborough Group Director Operations, Lexie O’Shea, said work is also underway to ensure we have the workforce needed to support these developments and deliver improved healthcare for the community well into the future.

This project has been carefully scoped to meet clinical demand through to 2043, reduce seismic risk, and enable early realisation of benefits through a phased, practical delivery model. Lexie said the Nelson Hospital redevelopment is designed to respond to the needs of the Nelson and Marlborough district, but future investments will be needed as the population grows and ages.

“This marks a major and exciting milestone for Nelson Hospital. We’re committed to keeping staff informed and involved as planning and implementation move forward,” Lexie said.

More details on the Detailed Business case can be found here:
Nelson Hospital Detailed Business Case – Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

Nelson Hospital Redevelopment update

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.

"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.”

Masterplanning is underway as part of the detailed business case process. This 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 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.