Health Minister Andrew Little says a rebuilt Nelson Hospital won t include a change in location. An Indicative Business Case for the project was submitted in May, costed at about $713 million. However, on Friday Little said that rough costing of $713m included “all the bells and whistles, and absolutely everything” and had been sent back for revision. “They ve been told that that s a little bit beyond what was expected, so they’re having a look at that again,” Little said. “I think, what we re saying is: Let s look at actual need and bearing in mind too that our health system is a network so not every hospital has to have absolutely everything.
There was “no current timeframe for the upgrade”. “Time frames will be determined once I have been provided with advice from officials regarding the prioritisation of District Health Board capital projects,” Little said. Smith said the redevelopment would be “the largest capital project ever undertaken in Nelson” and would take “years to plan and build, which is why the development needs to get underway as soon as possible”. He said it was “unacceptable” that Nelson “would not have a functional hospital in the event of a substantial earthquake, similar to what hit Christchurch . or Kaikōura”. In April 2016 the then Nelson Marlborough District Health Board chief executive Chris Fleming estimated building would begin in “four to five years” but that time frame has almost lapsed and the third phase of a four-stage business case is yet to be presented. Costs then were estimated to be between $120m to $150m.