Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced an $80 million infrastructure investment to fix "years of neglect and underinvestment" at Middlemore Hospital.
The added funding brings the budget for improving the state of New Zealand's hospitals to "well over $600 million", says Ms Ardern.
"Improving access to high quality health services provided in world-class facilities is a priority. The people and staff of Counties Manukau District Health Board (DHB) deserve quality facilities that are in a good state of repair," she said.
Health Minister David Clark says Wednesday's announcement is a "welcome step" towards the on-going process of renewing the DHB facilities.
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Earlier in the year it was discovered that Middlemore has serious rot and mould problems, which posed a health risk to staff and patients.
An Official Information Act request by RNZ revealed four buildings at Middlemore contain "significant fungus and bacteria". All four buildings were leaking and brown rot was found in the walls, as well as multiple cases of Stachybotrys a fungus that has been known to cause serious illness.
According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Stachybotrys requires "constant moisture" to grow. The CDC also mentions that people with weakened immune systems, such as people undergoing chemotherapy are more likely to get mould infections.
The funding will go towards four key projects - re-cladding the Kidz First Building (one of the buildings found to contain rot), relocating the radiology department, establishing a radiology hub at the Manukau SuperClinic to stop patients having to transfer to Middlemore for CT and MRI scans and finally, critical infrastructure work at the SuperClinic to support expansion of its clinical services.
According to Mr Clark the funding will "significantly improve the standard of key facilities, and help Counties Manukau better handle a growing population".
He says that the upgrade of the hospital is "no small task. It requires careful planning to minimise disruption to patients and staff whilst maintaining services throughout".
"In the end though, this is about delivering quality facilities that people need and deserve. This is a government committed to that task".
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