Auckland City Hospital completes major $364m upgrade to boost emergency resilience

The upgrades include a new Central Plant Building and a reinforced underground service tunnel, both designed to protect and stabilise the hospital’s most vital operational systems.

Auckland City Hospital has completed significant upgrades to its core infrastructure, marking a major milestone in efforts to strengthen resilience and ensure essential health services remain available during major emergencies. Health Minister Simeon Brown unveiled the results of the $364.3 million second stage of the Facilities Infrastructure Remediation Programme, calling it a crucial investment in patient safety and system reliability.

The upgrades include a new Central Plant Building and a reinforced underground service tunnel, both designed to protect and stabilise the hospital’s most vital operational systems. These improvements form part of the Government’s wider $743 million remediation programme, aimed at modernising ageing infrastructure across the Auckland City Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre campuses.

A New Era of Resilient Hospital Infrastructure

The newly completed Central Plant Building houses key systems such as:

• Emergency power generators

• Medical gas supplies

• Diesel storage tanks

• Water reserves

Built on advanced base isolators and deep foundations, the facility is engineered to withstand major natural disasters and expected to last 100 years. Minister Brown said the upgrade ensures the hospital can continue operating at full capacity for up to three days following a significant emergency.

“This is a milestone for Auckland City Hospital,” Brown said. “These upgrades give patients and staff confidence that care will continue when it is needed most.”

Underground Service Tunnel Enhances Reliability

The new underground service tunnel protects:

• Power lines

• Water pipes

• Communications networks

• Medical infrastructure links

By relocating these critical systems underground, the hospital reduces vulnerability to surface disruption, enabling uninterrupted service delivery even in severe weather or seismic events.

Day-to-day benefits include fewer system failures, improved operational stability, and more reliable patient care.

Ongoing Investment Through Budget 2025

As part of the Government’s $1 billion Budget 2025 investment in hospital infrastructure, an additional $73 million has been earmarked for the third stage of the remediation programme. This next phase will include:

• Upgrades to power and heating systems

• Improved safety systems

• Continued modernisation of infrastructure at both Auckland City Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre

Design work is also underway for the next stage of the Auckland hot water pipes replacement project, with construction on earlier stages progressing.

Minister Brown reiterated that these investments are essential for supporting New Zealand’s largest hospital network.

“We are committed to delivering modern infrastructure that ensures hospitals can keep providing essential care. This is about fixing the basics and building a future that safeguards health for generations to come.”