Southern Charity Hospital building work finished
Sunday, 17 March 2024
Thousands of volunteer hours and $6.6m donated by the community, has resulted in the Southern Charity Hospital in Invercargill taking shape.
The job’s not finished, but it’s now looking like a real hospital.
Driving force Melissa Vining expects it to be opened before the end of 2024.
Another milestone has been reached for the Southern Charity Hospital in Invercargill - the building work is finished, but more tasks need to be ticked off before it opens to the public.
Key players were this week unwilling to nominate an opening date, but expected it to be sometime this year.
The community-funded hospital would initially provide colonoscopies and dental work for its patients, with additional services to be added as the need arises.
The project, inspired by the tireless efforts of bowel cancer sufferer Blair Vining and his wife Melissa, began in late 2019, more than four years ago.
The former Clifton Club Inn now looks like a real hospital, complete with reception area, community room, operating theatre, recovery rooms, patient consulting rooms, dental practice, and with pieces of art adding to the finishing touches.
However, code of compliance sign-offs were still needed and equipment had to be tested before the hospital opened.
The plan to build the charity hospital was motivated by Melissa Vining and her husband Blair, who campaigned for the timely diagnosis and treatment of Kiwis suffering from cancer.
Blair died in October 2019, having earlier been diagnosed with bowel cancer and given six to eight weeks to live. He was told it would take eight weeks to get his first oncologist appointment in the public heath system.
“This is ticking off Blair’s dying wish, to build a hospital,” Melissa said on Friday.
“The next stage is going to make it operational, which will be pretty spectacular.
“It feels so real, seeing the theatre, recovery room, community room, all the furnishings, it really looks like a hospital now.
“It’s incredible seeing what the community has achieved.”
She said about 100 colonoscopies a month were declined in the public health system in the Otago Southland area.
“We are hoping to do those here.”
She understood the charity hospital would be capable of doing six to eight colonoscopies a day, depending on the complexity of the procedures, and subject to the volunteerism of medical professionals.
Southern Charity Hospital board chair Dr Murray Pfeifer confirmed there was still a “fair bit” to do before the hospital opened.
The completion of the building was one step, and an important one, Pfeifer said.
“But the fit out, and commissioning of everything, and getting the consents we need, is still required. And that’s time consuming.”
The hospital was looking beautiful, he said.
“We are all very proud of what’s been achieved so far. It’s just the start, it’s not the end.”