Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher feels “more optimistic” New Dunedin Hospital will be fit for purpose, after a meeting with Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Infrastructure head Blake Lepper on Monday night.

Mr Lepper made contact with Mr Kircher, who is Otago Mayoral Forum chair, on Friday, following an announcement from the Government last week that hospital plans as they stand can not be delivered on the allocated $1.88 billion budget.

“He wanted an opportunity to update the forum after his previous presentation given two weeks earlier. I also invited the members of the Southland Mayoral Forum, and that meeting took place via Zoom.”

All mayors from both districts were present, as were the chairs of the Otago and Southland regional councils, Gary says.

The Government’s announcement last week triggered a mass protest in Dunedin on Saturday, with an estimated 35,000 people voicing their dissatisfaction at the prospect of a sub-standard hospital.

Mr Kircher says he “can't overstate how important the voice of our region's people is in this discussion”.

“Letting our central government politicians know what we expect for our healthcare is an extremely important show of support.”

Mr Lepper provided an update on negotiations and other happenings since the group last met about two weeks ago.

“Importantly, he spoke of his work to get the costs down without affecting services.”

It appears Mr Lepper and Health NZ have made “good progress”, but he would have to comment on that himself, Mr Kircher says.

“Blake did say that it will be another three to four weeks before he finishes his current process of getting the project back under the latest $1.88B budget.”

Health NZ Chief Infrastructure and Investment Officer Jeremy Holman told the Waitaki App on Wednesday, that Health NZ is "working urgently to develop options for New Dunedin Hospital that can be achieved within the budget and deliver modern, fit-for-purpose health facilities that will enhance clinical safety and enable new models of care".

The work will be completed over the coming weeks.

"We will consult with critical stakeholders, including clinical leaders, to ensure we understand the benefits and risks before a final decision is made. As soon as a decision is reached, we will update the people of Dunedin and the wider Southern region," he says.

Those in Monday's meeting found out more details on the order of priorities for reducing costs, and were told cuts to services are the last resort, Mr Kircher says.

“We also learnt of the way these projects had been handled, with a strict division between responsibilities of Health NZ and the DHBs.

“Car parking is one of those aspects, with HNZ not talking any interest in that as it was seen as a local service matter.”

Mr Kircher commented last week that choosing to build the hospital on the former Cadbury factory site with demolition costs, site contamination issues, and positioned in between two State Highway 1 thoroughfares, had contributed to mounting costs.

He also landed some of the blame with successive governments for poor management of the project.

At Monday's meeting, the mayoral group gained a better awareness of the nature of the agreement in place between the Health Ministry and the contractor, and it appears to Mr Kircher there is “disproportionate responsibility” on the Health Ministry for any cost over-runs.

They also gained a better idea of how many services were intended to remain in existing buildings rather than move to new buildings.

“It gave a better context to the potential redevelopment of buildings that already exist and for which a better business case can be made.

“I believe we finished the Zoom meeting with a more optimistic view that we are on a better path towards getting a hospital we deserve, though there is still a lot of work to be done in a short time.” 

The “mayors and chairs of Otago and Southland” also acknowledge the amount of support for the appropriate level of healthcare for the south, Mr Kircher says.

“We are all committed to achieving that for our people. The more comprehensive and the more accessible that healthcare is, the better.”

See a timeline of the new Dunedin Hospital build and read about why the hospital costs keep going up.