Minister of Health Tony Ryall has announced a $65 million redevelopment of Whakatane Hospital.
There will be a new emergency department with a short stay unit attached that will take pressure off other hospital beds, two brand new theatres and a procedures room which can also be converted to an extra operating theatre.

Whakatane Hospital is set to get an upgrade worth $65 million.

"The new specialist care units will have a total of 27 beds, inpatient wards will have 66 beds, and there will 26 beds or spaces for surgical services," says Tony from Whakatane.
"This investment will also address the known earthquake risk. The cost of strengthening the existing high-rise Stanton Block to bring it up to required earthquake standards would be about the same as a new building."
Site preparations are expected to begin this summer.
In the short term it's expected there will be 20-30 jobs created with as many as 80 jobs when the project is at its peak.
The Whakatane Hospital serves 50,000 people over a wide rural area from Cape Runaway to Matata to Ruatahuna. It also provides elective surgery support for Tauranga.
The development helps future proof health infrastructure for a high needs population, and the DHB will be working closely with the local PHO to finalise the design, says Tony.
The Whakatane project is among hospital capital projects, totalling more than $400 million announced by the government in the last 18 months.
They include:
Tauranga Hospital - East Wing development $27m
Middlemore Hospital Future Growth Stage 1 $208.68m
Lakeview Emergency Care Centre at North Shore Hospital $48.65m
Dunedin and Wakari Hospital upgrades $24.4m
Whangarei Hospital Redevelopment Stage 1 $25.11m
Capital & Coast DHB - Equipment and ICT Systems upgrades $37.90m
Auckland Hospital car park approx $15m
Greenlane surgical centre upgrade estimated $24m