The New Zealand Government has committed NZ$300 million (A$280 million) to redevelop the Taranaki Base Hospital in New Plymouth. This is the second stage of the hospital's redevelopment. The first stage involved building a NZ$80 million acute services building and was completed in 2014. The project will be funded out of the NZ$1.7 billion set aside in the 2019-2020 New Zealand Budget for hospital upgrades and health facilities.
In 2018, four of the current hospital buildings were found to be seismically compromised. The redevelopment will provide a more resilient hospital as the new building will have its own water supply, water storage, computer systems, and medical gas supply. This means it will be capable of providing emergency care after a major disaster.
The redevelopment of the hospital will involve building a new East Wing. This new building will include:
- an emergency department with double the capacity of the current ED
- an Intensive Care Unit
- a rooftop helipad
- purpose built maternity facilities and delivery suite
- a new postnatal ward and neonatal unit
- upgraded laboratory and radiology services, and
- a morgue.
