Southern Cross hospital starts with carpark

A year has passed since Southern Cross Healthcare announced it would be gearing up to offer its hospital services at its Silverdale facility (HM December 20, 2021).

It is now a decade since Southern Cross built the $8.8m hospital on the corner of Hibiscus Coast Highway and Millwater Parkway.

The first floor is occupied by GPs Silverdale Medical and other health professionals but the top floor has been empty since the facility was built. Covid-19, of course, has intervened. But things appear to be on the move, starting with a new carpark.

Last week, Southern Cross Healthcare chief of property and development, Courtney Bennett, told the paper that the first stage of the development is to add a level to the existing carpark on Polarity Rise.

“We need to have this completed before fitting out the hospital can start,” he says.

“We hope to have resource consent through for the carpark extension next month, and then award the contract for the project, which we expect to take around three months to complete. Following this, we can get underway with construction of the hospital, which is currently in the design phase.”

The completed facility is expected to include three operating theatres and a 10bed ward. It is to feature state-of-the-art green technology.

Last year, chief executive Chris White said that growth in the region is the key driver for getting the hospital up and running.

Southern Cross is the largest independent private healthcare network in the country. It extends its services to insurance funded, ACC, DHB and self-paying patients.

This picture of ‘the Black Church’, taken by Paul Donegan on a recent trip to Iceland, won him an Honours award in the most recent Hibiscus Coast Photographic Club competition. The theme of the competition was the use of triangles and there are quite a few in this picture. The new club year began on February 2. There are workshops and club nights every month till November. Visitors are welcome. Info: visit hcpc.org.nz

Mullet mania for mental health

The iconic short/long mullet hairstyle is back, and The Mental Health Foundation of NZ is challenging Kiwis to grow one this March to support mental health in Aotearoa. The organisation wants to create a mass of mullets across NZ in March – which it is calling ‘The March of the Mullets’ – while raising funds to provide vital and free mental health resources. Don’t mullet-over! Get growing and sign up at https://themulletmatters.co.nz/