“A pig’s breakfast” is the term Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher uses to describe the Dunedin Hospital situation.

The Government announced last Thursday that a report it commissioned into the new hospital build says the current plans can not be delivered within the allocated $1.88 billion budget, and costs could balloon to $3b.

The new hospital plans would either need to be reduced or done in stages, Government ministers say.

Gary says the south “has not been served well”.

“This is a regional hospital and we need it to deliver the tertiary care that our Ōamaru Hospital isn’t resourced for, and that people throughout Waitaki will depend on.”

A massive protest took place in Dunedin on Saturday, with an estimated 35,000 people making it clear they are not happy with the latest announcement by the Government.

Gary says while he could not make the protest at the weekend, he fully supports “the spirit of it”.

“I have been liaising with Blake Lepper (Head of Infrastructure for Health NZ) and we will be having a Zoom with him and the Otago/Southland mayors and chairs this evening (Monday). 

“Blake will outline what he is doing to get the project to come in within the latest increased budget, but with the least possible cuts to any of the services.” 

Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher. Photo: Supplied

Gary says the planning of the hospital has been “very much a Dunedin matter”, and the site has had a large part to play in the cost overruns.

“Dunedin was adamant that it had to go on the old Cadbury factory site. The rest of the Otago/Southland regions weren’t given any choice.”

Costs have blown out due to demolition costs, contamination, and the challenges and expense of building between two State Highway 1 thoroughfares, he says.

He spoke to Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Health Minister Shane Reti last week at the pre-announcement briefing, and said the people of Waitaki didn’t care where in Dunedin it went.

“We just wanted to know that it would have the services and enough capacity for our people, that it was easy to get to and that it had sufficient carparking, because unlike Dunedinites, we couldn’t simply catch a public bus to get there.”

Gary says the south has been “failed” by the Government through its “extremely poor management of the project, the exclusion of key infrastructure from the budget, and the contractural mess” which has left .

“When PM Luxon criticised councils for not managing water infrastructure well, he didn’t delineate between the current representatives and past ones, and we shouldn’t do that here. 

“The Government has failed us and past and present governments need to own that.”

It has always been expected Ōamaru Hospital will play an important part in the health system for Waitaki locals, and if there are any reductions in the services to be offered in Dunedin, that part may become an even larger one, Gary says.

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