At the time, Hipkins said construction of the new facility was likely to start in the second half of 2021 and was expected to take about two years to complete.

Covid-19 delayed the start of construction until 2022.

‘Way overdue’

Te Arawa tribal health authority Te Mana Hauora o Te Arawa Trust coach Huhana Clayton-Evans said the current facility was “so unsuitable”, with 14 beds for the population of Rotorua and Taupō.

The Rotorua district population in the 2023 Census was 74,058 and the Taupō district population was 40,296.

She said in her view it was “just a hovel”.

“It’s way overdue this new build.”

She said the further delay in opening was “just ridiculous” and the impact on whānau was “not okay”.

“There’s already people suffering.”

She said a new building would make patients “more comfortable”.

‘Significant unexpected costs’

In a statement on December 4, Health NZ head of infrastructure delivery Blake Lepper said a range of factors had caused delays in the progress of the building design and project deliverables.

“One of the main contributions to timing delays is the physical build will take longer to complete than the project initially estimated.

“These factors have also significantly impacted costs since the budget was established in 2020. The budget is now $50 million.”

Impacts such as inflation, rising construction material costs through Covid-19, and supply chain challenges had contributed to rising expenses, he said.

Lepper said there were “significant unexpected costs” within the earthwork phase, relating to managing the “difficult ground” and disposal of geothermally contaminated material.

Additional requirements for geotechnical and geothermal investigations and subsequent complex building features, due to the geothermal nature of the site, also added further delays and costs, he said.

Lepper said there had been significant investment from the Government throughout the project, after acknowledging cost and time pressures.

He said several project deliverables were complete, and others were making good progress.

The vertical timber and steel structure was in place and the in-ground services were “largely complete” across the site.

The installation of internal services had started and the roofing, external cladding, and installation of windows and doors was in progress.

He said the complex foundations, underfloor services and structural cross laminate timber flooring had been completed. These features were required to mitigate the geothermal challenges of the site, which included potential heat gain from the ground and the possible management of hydrogen sulphide gas.

Lepper said the replacement facility was being built on the main Rotorua Hospital campus and would have 16 beds, with the potential to expand to 20 in future.

The configuration of the bedrooms would be in pods of four. This would allow different cohorts of patients to be grouped together, for example, older people, people with vulnerabilities or those who required a safe, low stimulus environment with more intensive nursing, he said.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.