Where do I go for my healthcare services?
Please continue to access our services as you normally would. Our emergency department is operating as normal, as it is located in a different building.
Your care is our key focus, as well as minimising any disruption. At the moment:
We are following the expert advice of engineers.
We have emergency plans in place to make sure everyone is safe.
You may see new signs and fencing around the building that are helping keep everyone safe.
We are exploring other options about where we deliver our services (where you come for treatment)
As soon as we know when any services will move to a new location we will:
contact those people who are affected to let them know
update this web page with the new locations and dates they will move, and our Facebook pages
put up posters around the hospital
publish ads in the local community newspapers.
Frequently asked questions on services and support for staff and patients
Will you 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.
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.
