1 May 2002

The Government has today reannounced National's 1999 decision to build a new regional hospital at its Newtown site in Wellington, National Health Spokesperson Roger Sowry said.

"The Government has procrastinated on whether it would go ahead with the 1999 decision for nearly three years, but being election year it is timely to reannounce the decision and claim the glory.

"National said at the time that the new hospital should be in place by 2003 but it looks like the project will hardly be underway by then if you look at the current rate of progress.

"It is good that the Government has decided to go ahead with a Wellington regional hospital. National put a lot of work into assessing the future needs of the region and this is why we decided a new hospital was needed and that services needed to be upgraded for the Kapiti Coast due to population growth.

"What Wellington needs now is the Government to prove its commitment by getting this project started. The region has already lost two and a half years through this Government's procrastination," Mr Sowry said.

Ends

© Scoop Media