What is the issue with the Heretaunga block at Hutt Hospital?
The Hutt Valley District Health Board (HVDHB) has received a seismic assessment of the Heretaunga Block at Hutt Hospital that shows that the building would be considered earthquake-prone under the law.
Our staff and patient safety, both clinical and physical, is our priority. The Board is taking a precautionary approach and we are planning our next steps to exit the building while continuing to provide services to our communities.
We have received expert engineering advice that the risk to people while we take our next steps is low and the building has performed well in previous Seddon and Kaikoura earthquakes.
In simple terms, the building lacks some of the configuration and detailing of more modern structures that better enable them to resist and still perform after major earthquake shaking. In 2017, the technical guidelines for undertaking seismic assessments were updated taking in learnings from the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes. Buildings such as hospitals are also held to a higher standard than other buildings. As a result, the way building elements were assessed such as columns and beams, the concrete floor diaphragm, precast concrete façade panel connections and stairs were made more stringent.
Following this assessment we have updated our emergency procedures and are working with our emergency management partners, including the Ministry of Health, to ensure our emergency response planning is robust and ready to action should it be required.
Is the Heretaunga Block at Hutt Hospital safe to occupy?
We have been working closely with experts and following advice to ensure we continue to prioritise staff and patient safety. We have received expert engineering advice that the risk to people while we take our next steps is low. We also know that the Heretaunga Block has performed well in the previous Seddon and Kaikoura earthquakes.
Buildings such as hospitals are held to a higher standard than other buildings. Our immediate focus is working closely with our clinical leaders and community partners to develop an implementation plan to manage the transition of people and some services, ensuring continuity and access to healthcare for our community.
As with other priority buildings that are considered earthquake-prone in the Wellington Region, we have some years to get the building up to acceptable levels. Our expert engineering advice indicated that fixing the building would require work that would be disruptive to continued patient care. That’s why we are undertaking planning on how to shift staff, patients and services out of the building so that we can either fix it more quickly without impacting our patients’ care or work out alternative arrangements that are best for our communities.
Our emergency procedures are up to date and we are working with our emergency management partners including the Ministry of Health to ensure our emergency response planning is robust and ready to action should it be required.
What are the issues with the Heretaunga building exactly?
The building was designed in the early/mid-1970s, just prior to significant advances in seismic design codes in New Zealand. As a result, the building lacks some of the configuration and detailing of more modern structures that better enable them to resist major earthquake shaking.
We have received expert engineering advice that the risk to people while we take our next steps is low. We also know that the Heretaunga Block has performed well in the previous Seddon and Kaikoura earthquakes.
Buildings such as hospitals are also held to a higher standard than other buildings. As a result, the way building elements were assessed such as columns and beams, the concrete floor diaphragm, precast concrete façade panel connections and stairs were made more stringent. In simple terms, the building lacks some of the configuration and detailing of more modern structures that better enable them to resist and still perform after major earthquake shaking.
When did HVDHB learn about this?
The HVDHB considered all of the expert advice available and made its decision on 13 May 2022.
How are we supporting staff, patients and visitors?
What is the risk to people using the building - staff and patients?
We have received expert engineering advice that the risk to people while we take our next steps is low. The building has performed well in previous Seddon and Kaikoura earthquakes.
What happens if there is an event now?
We have received expert engineering advice that the risk to people while we take our next steps is low.
We have updated our emergency procedures and we are working with our emergency management partners including the Ministry of Health to ensure our emergency response planning is robust and ready to action should it be required. We are also seeking advice on what temporary measures can be put in place to further mitigate any risk, including additional fencing or signage. We also have systems to ensure that we are notified within an hour of any structural issues that may arise following an event. Our staff will guide patients and visitors, as they do now.
How will this affect health services and when?
Does this mean you will be shutting down local health services in the Hutt?
Not at all. We will continue providing health services to our community, both in the Heretaunga Building and other buildings at Hutt Hospital while we work through next steps.
We will be working with our partners and stakeholders – particularly the Ministry of Health, Interim Health New Zealand, and the Māori Health Authority – and will be consulting and engaging with other providers to complete the planning for next steps.
We understand how important it is to retain access to local health services and facilities in our community. The Hutt Valley DHB Board members have stressed the need for Health New Zealand to prioritise the development of a facility in a way that ensures quality, safety and equity of healthcare for the Hutt Valley community.
What impact will this have on the availability of services locally?
At present there will be no change. We will still be providing health services to our community, both in the Heretaunga Building and other buildings at Hutt Hospital. In the future, the location of some healthcare services will change and we will be providing more information to those affected as soon as it becomes available.We will also keep our website updated with information.
What services will move and where do I go?
We will still be providing health services to our community, both in the Heretaunga Building and other buildings at Hutt Hospital.
Our immediate focus is developing the implementation plan to shift services, ensuring continuity and access to healthcare, and will be consulting and engaging with stakeholders, partners and the community on this.
Once plans are in place we will notify those people affected by any changes directly.
As we work through this process there will be some changes at the Hutt Hospital like some new signs or temporary fencing.
We will also be keeping our website up to date with information.
Are you considering relocating the maternity services to the closed Te Awakairangi Birthing Centre?
We are considering a number of options and welcome offers from a range of facility providers to support our service delivery as we plan the relocation of patients and services from the Heretaunga Building at Hutt Hospital. This includes discussions with the Wright Family Foundation about a possible partnership. As we are still at a very early stage of our planning, decisions have not yet been made. These would be agreed as we work through the planning process and manage the relocation, while ensuring service continuity and access to healthcare for our community.
Why can't we move everyone out of the building today?
Because our staff and patient safety, both clinical and physical, is our priority, we need to carefully plan our next steps. We have been advised that an immediate exit is not necessary. Expert engineering advice is that the risk to people while we take our next steps is low.
As with other priority buildings that are considered earthquake-prone in the Wellington, we have some years to get the building up to acceptable levels. Our expert engineering advice indicated that fixing the building would require work that would be disruptive to continued patient care.
That’s why we are undertaking planning on how we can shift patients and services out of the building so that we can either remediate it more quickly without impacting our patients’ care, or work out alternative arrangements that are best for our communities.
Our immediate focus is working closely with our clinical leaders and community partners to develop the implementation plan to manage the transition of people and some services, ensuring continuity and access to healthcare for our community.
Aren't all of our hospitals full – how will we accommodate the additional requirements in the region?
Our staff and patient safety, both clinical and physical, is our priority. We will be working with our partners and stakeholders – particularly the Ministry of Health, Interim Health New Zealand, and the Māori Health Authority but also consulting and engaging with other providers - to complete the planning for next steps.
What services are provided at Heretaunga Block at Hutt Hospital?
All services will continue to be provided as normal for the time being, so people should access our services as they normally would. As we plan our next steps, we will be notifying people affected directly.
The current services located in the Heretaunga Block include:
·Basement – Clinical Engineering and Buildings Services Teams, Plant Rooms, Engineering Services
·Ground level - Radiology, Maternity assessment unit
·Level one - Laboratory services, pharmacy, ICU surge ward
·Level two - Maternity services, Special Care Baby Unit
·Level three - Children’s ward, Plastics & Burns ward
·Level four - General Surgery & Gynaecology ward, Orthopaedics ward
·Level five - General Medicine ward
·Level six - CCU & Cardiology ward, Rheumatology outpatient and consult services
·Level seven - Building & Property offices
Other buildings on campus house the remaining inpatient services. These are the intensive care unit (eight beds), older persons and rehabilitation services (32 beds), and the medical assessment and planning unit (16 beds).They are dependent on the Heretaunga building for inpatient support.
The Heretaunga building houses 25 percent of the physical capacity across Hutt, Kenepuru Community, and Wellington Regional Hospitals (excluding Mental Health and Addictions Services).
How many patients are in Heretaunga Block?
There are 210 physical bed spaces in the Heretaunga Block.
Earthquake assessment reports & timings
What does a percentage New Building Standard (NBS) rating of the building mean?
The building is rated below the minimum standard of 34%NBS (IL3). As a hospital, the building is recognised to be of level 3 importance, which means it is held to a higher standard than other buildings.
Seismic ratings are essentially a risk comparator, and relate a building to an equivalent new building. NBS does not predict expected performance in a particular earthquake, as every earthquake is different in terms of location and depth of the epicentre, and frequency of shaking.
The response of earthquake-prone buildings across the Wellington Region to the Kaikoura earthquake illustrates this. Of the more than 700 designated earthquake-prone buildings at the time of the earthquake, only a very small number recorded any damage, and it is understood that none experienced structural failure.
More importantly, %NBS ratings don’t represent a specific assessment of safety. A building with a seismic rating less than 34%NBS is not considered a dangerous building or necessarily in any imminent risk of failure in an earthquake.
The low rating signals that action should be taken to address the seismic vulnerabilities identified.
It is important to note that the low %NBS ratings reflect the presence of structural shortcomings and a lack of resilience in these systems, not the levels of shaking at which they might fail.
When did you receive the report?
The first draft report was issued on 8 March 2022. Since then we have been working with engineers to understand the situation and gather more information. We stood up a special project team to investigate options and next steps. We have worked closely with experts and followed advice to ensure we prioritise staff and patient safety, both clinical and physical. The Board was advised and made its decision on 13 May 2022.
What are the findings of this DSA Report?
The Detailed Seismic Assessment (DSA) identifies potential issues within some elements of the building. We have received expert engineering advice that the risk to people while we take our next steps is low.
What are the timeframes to address the issues with the Heretaunga Building?
As with other priority buildings considered earthquake-prone in the Wellington region, the HVDHB (and when it is established, Health New Zealand) would have some years under the law to carry out work to address the seismic status of the Heretaunga Block building.
Our expert engineering advice indicates that fixing the building would require work that would be disruptive to continued patient care. That’s why we are undertaking the planning to shift staff, patients and services out of the building so that we can either fix it more quickly without impacting our patients’ care, or work out alternative arrangements that are best for our communities.
Should there have been a review of the Heretaunga Block at Hutt Hospital earlier than now, given the implementation of the new Seismic Assessment of Existing Buildings 2017 Guidelines?
The 2017 changes did not require owners to undertake new assessments – they provided a framework for future assessments to include progressive refinements as knowledge increased about seismicity, material properties, and the response of buildings in earthquake shaking. Engineers have confirmed that seismic ratings are essentially a risk comparator, and relate a building to an equivalent new building. These ratings do not represent a specific assessment of safety.
In 2018, Hutt Valley DHB and Capital & Coast DHB began reviewing our hospital network as part of joint 2DHB planning. This includes reviewing our facilities and infrastructure to support the delivery of high quality and safe patient-centred care. In 2019, Hutt City Council identified the Heretaunga building as potentially earthquake-prone – due to its age and height – and gave us a year to provide an engineering assessment. We supplied the 2011 DSA, which the council confirmed complied with the requirements of the Earthquake Prone Building methodology.
Assessment of our hospital infrastructure – including the Heretaunga Block – has continued in a planned and systematic manner in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, and we initiated the 2022 seismic assessment as part of a planned review of our hospital network. We are now planning our next steps to exit the building while continuing to provide services to our communities – our highest priority being the ongoing and continued safety of staff, patients, and visitors.
Why did you commission the report? Are you expecting more buildings to have a similar result?
The seismic assessment was initiated by HVDHB as part of a review of our hospital network. Our goal has been to ensure we make the most effective use of our resources – our people, buildings and equipment. This means work is already underway to ensure we can deliver contemporary care models that provide high quality and safe patient-centred care.
The management and review of all of our campus infrastructure continues to occur in a planned and systematic way in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.
When was the last assessment done, and why is there such a significant change?
The last seismic assessment was carried out on this building in 2011, and the building met the required standards of performance.
In 2017, the technical guidelines for undertaking seismic assessments were updated taking in learnings from the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes. Buildings such as hospitals are also held to a higher standard than other buildings because of their role in emergency support after a major disaster. As a result, the way building elements were assessed such as columns and beams, the concrete floor diaphragm, precast concrete façade panel connections and stairs were made more stringent.
