VISITING HOSPITAL

All hospital visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask. Expand this message for information about visiting hospital.

Last updated:
13 March 2023

Some visitor restrictions for all Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury hospitals and health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and so we recommend all people wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and  visitors safe.

To keep everybody safe:

  • Visitors or support people must not visit our facilities if they are unwell. Do not visit if you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and haven’t completed your isolation period.
  • Patients may have more than one visitor, except in some situations such as multi-bed rooms where it can cause overcrowding.
  • Surgical/medical masks are recommended to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • For Specialist Mental Health Services everyone is strongly encouraged to wear a face mask in all inpatient areas and areas where consumers are receiving care (i.e. community appointments, home-visits, transporting people). Discretion may be applied in cases where masks impair your ability to communicate effectively.
  • Visitors must not eat or drink in multibed rooms because of the increased risk when multiple people remove their face mask in the same space.
  • Hand sanitiser is available and must be used.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as our staff work hard to protect and care for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People can visit patients who have COVID-19 but they must wear an N95 mask – this will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Other methods of communication will be facilitated e.g. phone, Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp etc where visits aren’t possible.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours with the exception of Christchurch Women’s Hospital.

All visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers are able to be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where just one parent/caregiver is able to attend their appointment with their child. Exceptions by special arrangement only.

Patients and visitors should also read the additional more detailed visiting guidelines for each specific hospital.

More COVID-19 information

Construction begins on third tower for the Waipapa Building at Christchurch Hospital

  1. Home
  2. Health news
  3. Construction begins on third tower for the Waipapa Building at Christchurch Hospital

Friday 14 April 2023Media release2 minutes to read

THIS IS AN ARCHIVED PAGE. The advice and information contained in this page may not be current and it should only be used for historical reference purposes.

A render of the new third tower to be constructed on the east end of the Waipapa building

Construction has begun on new inpatient wards at Christchurch Hospital, a key milestone for the Waipapa Building project.

“Handing the site over to contractors to begin building work is an exciting stage for any infrastructure project,” says Dr Rob Ojala, Canterbury Executive Director of Infrastructure.

“The new tower signals a firm commitment to the provision of modern, fit-for-purpose inpatient wards for the region. It will provide 160 beds in total, with 64 available as soon as it opens. Fit-out of the remaining floors of shelled space, with a capacity of 96 beds, will be the next stage of the development.”

The tower is a continuation of the campus redevelopment works which saw the completion of the Waipapa Acute Services Building, comprising two towers, in 2020. The budget for this stage of the development is $184 million, which includes almost $30 million for enabling works that have been underway since 2022.

At 62,000 square metres in total, the Waipapa Acute Services Building is currently the South Island’s largest hospital building, and the additional tower will add a further 16,000 square metres.

The construction of the six storeys on the eastern end of the existing Waipapa building will match the footprint, façade, and internal design of the current towers.

Seismic strengthening and resilience to withstand earthquakes and provide health services immediately post-disaster is an integral part of the design, along with features such as increased airflow and the ability to separate wards if needed for a future pandemic.

“Ensuring new hospital buildings are fit-for-purpose and future-proofed is always an essential part of the design process,” says Dr Ojala.

It is anticipated that the third tower will be completed by quarter 3, 2025.

Work is also progressing well on the redevelopment of the Parkside building wards on the Christchurch Hospital campus. These wards are some of the few remaining in the country to have six beds. Each of the four wards being refurbished are being reconfigured to have four multi-bed rooms, with a separate toilet and shower.

 ENDS

For further information, contact:
communications@cdhb.health.nz

Tags

Related topics

Back to Health News

Page last updated: 14 June 2023

Is this page useful?