Build a New Wellington Cancer Centre

‘Full steam ahead’ to build new Wellington Cancer Centre

Capital & Coast DHB chief executive Margot Mains says a new Cancer Centre at Wellington Hospital will provide greatly improved cancer treatment facilities for this region.

C&C DHB today announced the results of a competitive tendering process to build the new Cancer Centre. The contract, worth more than $10m, has been awarded to Mainzeal. The new Cancer Centre is part of a $303million project to create new and improved healthcare and hospital facilities across the C&C DHB district.

“The new facility will significantly increase our capacity to deliver treatment to patients with cancer in the years ahead,” Margot Mains said.

“The new Cancer Centre will include greatly improved outpatient facilities, including a larger waiting area and more consulting rooms. The number of day spaces for patients receiving treatments such as chemotherapy, will increase to 14, about double the current capacity. The new centre will also feature a family room and a library with information for patients and their families. The new facility will also use state of the art building techniques to guard against the effects of a major earthquake.

“The new facilities will also enable us to increase our capacity for radiotherapy in the future. It will have three ‘bunkers’ – two of which will have linear accelerators when the centre opens, and the third bunker will allow for future expansion.

“With the contract now awarded it’s full steam ahead to build the new Cancer Centre. Mainzeal will begin work on site next week, with piling being their first order of business. The new centre should be up and running in June 2005.

“The new two-story Cancer Centre will be directly linked into the existing hospital, with a walkway to the Children’s Hospital and the Community Services Block. It will also, eventually directly link in with the new Main Building on the Newtown site. The Cancer Centre is the first phase of that building, and has been designed is such a way that it can be used while the rest of the Main Building is built beside it.

“Work on our Wellington Hospital site thus far has been focussed on renovating some areas which are being used while the building process is underway, and on demolishing the old 210 Block. The Cancer Centre is the first new building on the site, and it would be fair to say that we are very excited that we are about to begin creating the first of the ‘new’ buildings on the Newtown site,” Margot Mains said.

The $303million project also includes significant developments on C&C DHB’s other sites. A purpose-built one-stop-shop, the Kapiti Health Centre, opened at Paraparaumu in October last year. And work is about to begin on the Kenepuru site in Porirua, with the first task being the demolition of the old Maternity Building. Neil Ranford, CEO of Mainzeal welcomed the news of the contract. “Mainzeal is delighted to be involved with the construction of the new Oncology Building, the first of the significant new builds in the Regional Hospital development,” Mr Ranford said.

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