The North Shore population has been growing faster than in many other parts of Auckland – or New Zealand – for some time. With the need for health infrastructure growing at a similar rate, nearly eight years ago the now-defunct Waitemata District Health Board planned a major capital works programme at the North Shore Hospital campus to meet projected population growth in the northern region. The cornerstone of that programme is a new four-storey hospital building, called Tōtara Haumaru, that is now obvious to anyone passing North Shore Hospital, and will be completed this year. Christine Young looked into the development of the new building and reports on progress since works started in 2020.
Tōtara Haumaru is the largest of a number of new builds and upgrades taking place at North Shore Hospital. Other projects over the next two years include the opening of new whānau accommodation – scheduled for March this year. Tōtara Haumaru project director Brad Marais says this “modern, new, two-storey stand-alone building will be a significant improvement on the whānau quarters currently available on the ground floor of the hospital.” It will provide accommodation options for 16 people, kitchen facilities and a dining room. The building also includes office space for members of the Māori Health team, while the existing accommodation area within the hospital will be used for the expansion of clinical services.
In addition, an upgrade to the Central Sterile Services Department is due to commence this year to enable the service to meet future demand as the population grows. The department sterilises more than two million medical devices each year for re-use in operations and other procedures across the region. This upgrade will support a more modern facility that will help strengthen health services in the rapidly growing Waitematā and Auckland region.
Tōtara Haumaru itself was originally envisaged, says Brad Marais, as a two-level build connected to the existing North Shore Hospital Elective Services Centre with an endoscopy procedural suite on the ground floor and a 30-bed in-patient ward on Level 1. The procedural suite aimed to address key issues facing the endoscopy service while additional in-patient beds were required to assist in managing both acute and elective demand.
“The scope was increased significantly to include eight state-of-the-art operating theatres, a four-room procedure suite for colonoscopy and gastroscopy procedures and 150 additional in-patient beds [in five 30-bed wards]. This came after robust regional analysis and planning (to support the Northern Region Long Term Investment Plan) which identified Auckland’s need for additional theatres and beds due to the significant current and forecast population growth and pressure on existing facilities. “
A sky bridge will connect the new building with the existing Elective Surgery Centre (ESC), and provide a seamless connection for staff and the transfer of patients from the new building through the ESC and on to the main hospital tower block. Current planning considers how the additional Tōtara Haumaru theatre, endoscopy and in-patient bed capacity is “best utilised as part of the hospital network,” says Brad. “These plans identify space within existing parts of North Shore Hospital which will enable other service development subject to additional resourcing.”
Demolition of the existing aging Taharoto and Pupuke buildings began in 2020; earthworks for the new building followed soon after. An official “turning of the sod” ceremony featuring Minister of Health Andrew Little, DHB Chair Dame Judy McGregor and CEO Dr Dale Bramley took place in March 2021 marking the next stage of the project. As construction has taken place, water, gas and power infrastructure have been upgraded to ensure these services are resilient enough to support the hospital for the next 30 years. Construction was able to proceed, under strict conditions, during Level 4 Covid lockdowns as the project was part of the Government’s infrastructure roll-out programme, and met the criteria of “responding to the nation’s Covid-19 recovery”. Despite the challenges of Covid and the ensuing supply chain issues that plagued the construction industry, the new building is due for completion this year as scheduled, and will open in 2024.
“Tōtara Haumaru was given its name by our Chief Advisor Tikanga, Dame Rangimārie Naida Glavish,” says Brad, “because it referenced the protective canopy of a tōtara tree that once grew beside the now-demolished Taharoto building. The wood from this tōtara has been carefully stored and will be used to create carvings for the new building. A branch of the tree also forms part of an art sculpture in a landscaped garden alongside the hospital’s Whenua Pupuke building.”
In April last year, on a visit to the site to inspect progress, Health Minister Andrew Little gifted two juvenile totara trees which are being nurtured in storage until they can be incorporated as a focal point in the landscaping of the new building.
Throughout the project, while the physical construction has been the most obvious manifestation to outsiders, the needs and interests of staff and patients have been at the forefront. As Brad says, “The design is whānau and patient-centred, supporting modern models of care to enhance their experiences.”
Early on, nine user groups made up of experienced staff from across the DHB and from areas including front of house, security, endoscopy, theatre and wards, met regularly to workshop every aspect of the design with the design team. The building’s design includes an enclosed central atrium accessible as a rest and recreation are for patients, whanau and staff, and includes a healing garden within this interior courtyard to support wellbeing and offer a place of respite for patients, visitors and staff.
In a move that sought to engage the wider population, the DHB put out a call on its Facebook page in 2020 inviting people to share their memories of the original soon-to-be-demolished maternity ward that had opened in 1958. The post featured a young nurse with some of the ward’s first mothers. Lee Morris recognised the nurse as her mother, June Orrell. She worked as a nurse until her retirement and was still living on the Shore, aged 84, at the time of the post.
Other hospital history recovered during the construction phase included a plaque commemorating the life of World War II nurse and the first matron at North Shore Obstetric Hospital, Eliza (also known as Elvie) Cargo. The plaque was placed in the grounds nearly 60 years ago but had become obscured by vegetation over the decades. It was returned to a place of honour, in a garden able to be accessed by patients, staff and members of the public on the shore of Lake Pupuke, on ANZAC Day 2022.
With the project now nearing completion, “2023 will be an extremely busy year for the construction teams,” notes Brad. “The current focus is to close in the building and make it watertight. The services and fit-out in the building will also take place, followed closely by the finishes, walls, floors and ceilings. Commissioning of the equipment and the building starts mid-way through the year and continues until the building handover.
“The most visible aspect of the works will be the external civil works and landscaping. The civil works and roading preparation have already commenced. Roads and parking will be completed through the year, followed by the landscaping and planting. The Waitematā operational teams will also be busy preparing for the ‘go-live’ next year. Work includes procuring and ordering fittings, fixtures and equipment, calibrating the equipment, staff recruitment and training,” – all of which will come together to transform Tōtara Haumaru from a building to a highly functional modern hospital.
Updates and more details on the background to and construction of Tōtara Haumaru, from its inception to the present, are available at https://www.futureofhealth.govt.nz/health-nz/
[Sidebar:]
Tōtara Haumaru is far from the only building on the North Shore Hospital campus to be gifted a Māori or other specific name. Others include:
