Project Visit: Te Wao Nui, Wellington's new Regional Children's Hospital

Join NAWIC Wellington members for a special pre-opening project visit to the complete Te Wao Nui!

DATE: Tuesday, 27th September 

TIME: Gather at Main Entrance 5.15pm with Project Intro and Tours starting inside at 5:30pm. 

VENUE: Te Wao Nui, Wellington's new Childerns Hospital is located north of the Main Regional Hospital entrance. Limited paid parking is available in the hospital grounds in the area, accessed from Riddiford Street or Hospital Road. Note traffic can be busy at this time of day so please allow extra time. Alternatively, there is a new bus stop located outside the Wellington Regional Hospital. 

COST: FREE to NAWIC members, this event is limited to 30 people so please book your space consciously. We have included the option for a ticket with a donation of your choice to Wellington Hospitals Foundation 

BRING: No PPE is required but masks are required to be worn. 

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

In July 2017, property developer Mark Dunajtschik made an extraordinarily generous donation of $50+ million to build a new children's hospital in Wellington. $10 million has also been funded by the Wellington Hospitals Foundation via the community to outfit and equip the interior of the new hospital. The Government committed an extra $45.6 million to the project to deliver a new purpose-built facility that allows us to provide high-quality care to our young patients.

The project team of Studio Design + Architecture, Aurecon, New Zealand Consulting Engineers, Fire HQ, Silvester Clark and McKee Fehl Constructors. The team worked with clinical staff, and members of our community have been involved in this project from the outset – providing valuable feedback on the design and function of the building, and the needs of patients and whānau who will be using this facility.

The new hospital has been designed with tamariki, rangatahi and their whānau at the centre. ​With 50 inpatient beds, the new 7500 square-metre building on the northern reaches of the Wellington Regional Hospital campus is spread across three floors. It brings child health services under one roof for the first time – allowing for the integration of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as encouraging clinical collaboration and communication. ​

The first of the four floors house state-of-the-art earthquake protection in the form of triple pendulum bearings, which means the building is effectively isolated from its foundations and can move up to 1.5 metres in two directions. Level two of the new hospital houses the children’s clinics and the child protection service. Level three houses the surgical ward and will be connected to Wellington Regional Hospital via a link bridge, allowing for easier flow of patients between surgery and their ward. The medical ward will be housed on level four. ​

The Wellington Children's Hospital is one of only five hospitals in the country that performs specialist paediatric surgery. It provides paediatric surgical services for our tamariki and rangatahi, as well as tamariki and rangatahi from Hutt Valley, Wairapapa, Manawatu, Whanganui, Hawkes Bay, Nelson and Marlborough.​​

We look forward to seeing you there!

Image credit - Andy Spain Photography