(PR.co.nz) Dunedin Hospital is to get a new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Health Minister Tony Ryall has confirmed the new NICU, as part of a $24.4 million development of the Southern DHB’s Dunedin facilities.
Other developments will see the acute mental health unit moving to Wakari Hospital, and a long-overdue upgrade of the main telephone switchboard and standby generators.
“The new Government inherited a lot of problems here in Dunedin, including important building needs that had been neglected for years.”
“The new NICU will include 19 cots. The current unit is over-worked. At any one time, up to 21 babies are being cared for in a unit that NICU design standards indicate should accommodate three babies.”
“Families don’t enjoy the privacy of other NICUs, and there is a very limited ability for parents to stay with their babies.”
“The new acute mental health facilities at Wakari Hospital will fix a long-standing problem. According to the Ministry of Health, Dunedin’s Ward 1A is the highest priority mental health unit for replacement in the country. ”
The total funding package is being invested in:
* NICU plus enabling project $5.3 million
* Wakari developments $15.2 million
* Infrastructure projects at Dunedin $3.9
“The Southern DHB is faced with significant financial challenges. The Government expects the DHB to focus strongly on reducing administrative costs and overhead to support frontline services,” Mr Ryall says.
Media Release 3 June 2010 from Hon Tony Ryall, Minister of Health.
Telephone: (04)817 6804
Email: tony.ryall@parliament.govt.nz