More than $20bn needed for health infrastructure like hospitals – govt

16th April 2025 By Staff Reporter | news@propertyticker.co.nz | @propertyticker

The government says the country’s first Health Infrastructure Plan identifies more than $20bn of investment is needed to meet New Zealand’s future health needs.

The long-term plan has detailed the pipeline of investments in physical infrastructure over the next 10 years to help the government and Health New Zealand plan.

“Our health system is under significant pressure from ageing infrastructure that hasn’t kept pace with the needs of a growing and ageing population,” Health Minister Simeon Brown said in a statement today.

“The average age of our public health estate – 1,274 buildings across 86 campuses – is around 47 years.

“The state of our health infrastructure is not a new challenge; it is a problem that has developed over multiple decades. Addressing it requires a long-term plan to both renew existing capacity, and invest in new facilities, to meet future demand and ensure New Zealanders continue to receive high-quality care.”

The plan said challenges included buildings that required major remedial work to avoid service disruption, facilities with poor seismic ratings or serious compliance risks, and outdated infrastructure unable to support modern models of care.

“The Health Infrastructure Plan identifies the more than $20bn investment required to meet future health needs and introduces a more efficient way of delivering large hospital projects, called ‘Building Hospitals Better’,” Brown said.

“Instead of building single, large-scale structures, the plan proposes a staged approach delivering smaller, more manageable facilities in phases. This will mean patients benefit from modern healthcare environments sooner, while providing greater certainty around delivery timeframes and costs.”

The plan also outlined a phased programme of hospital and facility developments across the country to be delivered in three to four stages.

“This includes major new builds and expansions across the country, featuring new acute services buildings, inpatient units, expanded emergency departments and wards, and upgraded facilities.

“It also includes the planning and initial build of the recently announced new hospital in South Auckland – a critical investment for one of the country’s fastest-growing regions.”

Brown also announced that Health New Zealand had started a tender process for the next stage of construction for the new Dunedin Hospital’s inpatient building, with works to recommence on the former Cadbury site from mid-year. 

The Health Infrastructure Plan can be read here.