Auckland District Health Board has welcomed today’s Government announcement of $262 million investment in the replacement and upgrading of critical infrastructure at Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre.
The majority of the funding will be used for a new central plant and service tunnel at Auckland DHB’s Grafton site. The central plant provides critical infrastructure to Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and other buildings on the site including electrical power, chilled/domestic water, heating and cooling systems, and emergency back-up systems.
Pat Snedden, Chair of Auckland DHB said the funding will allow the second tranche of Auckland DHB’s 10-year programme of critical works to get underway.
“Most of the infrastructure at the Auckland City Hospital site is almost 50 years old and the majority of the services we deliver to patients here are reliant on the central plant. That is why this remediation programme is one of the most significant pieces of work Auckland DHB is undertaking to make sure our facilities are fit for purpose now and in the future.
“Tranche one of the programme began in 2018 and is progressing well, on track and within budget. The new investment announced today will further ensure we can continue to provide high quality care to patients from our local communities and from all over New Zealand.”
Auckland DHB Chief Executive Ailsa Claire welcomed the investment and its benefits for the DHB’s staff, patients, whānau and visitors.
“We began detailed planning in 2016, knowing our critical infrastructure would soon be coming to the end of its life and that we needed to mitigate the associated risks to patients and staff.
“I want to thank all those involved in this essential programme of work, including the Ministry of Health, Treasury, our contractors and other key partners.
“I also want to thank our staff, patients and whānau for their patience in working around the disruptions that these works bring. Over time they will benefit from fewer operational failures, greater efficiency and responsiveness, and improved safety and resilience.”
Auckland DHB is the only provider of highly specialist national services for the whole of New Zealand, such as Starship Child Health and the national transplant service. Overall, the DHB has more than 1 million patient contacts per year.
Overall Auckland DHB’s current infrastructure supports the following annual activity:
The plant rooms that supply Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and other services on the Grafton site with power, water, medical air and other utilities use 75million kWh of energy per annum (gas and electricity), equivalent to the annual energy use of approx. 10,000 NZ households. They also provide 6.3million litres of water per week, equivalent to two Olympic swimming pools.
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