90 | COMMUNITY Evolution Healthcare - Hawkins Construction: Wakefield Hospital Redevelopment “We’ve consulted widely to inform our design and have invested in the most up to date technologies available.” T Tto page 92 Future proofing delivery of medical care T T Richard Loader Private healthcare provider Evolution Healthcare is investing big time in Hospital developments in New Zealand, most notably a $166m total rebuild at Wellington’s Wakefield Hospital. Carrying a nursing practice, administration, management and governance background, its CEO, Sue Channon, says that understanding how modern-day medicine is delivered by topnotch specialists, clinicians and nurses, goes a big way into her ability to lead the progressive dynamic organisation under her care. “I’m extremely fortunate to be surrounded by a board and management teams on the ground at our hospitals, that make my role such an invigorating and satisfying one and having trained in a hospital as a nurse I have a very practical approach to problem-solving,” Sue explains. Wakefield Hospital, when finally completed early 2024 will boast world-leading surgical technologies, a hotel-standard experience for patients, both day and longer-stay and best of all, will future-proof delivery of medical care in the region for decades to come. “All the spaces and facilities we are providing at Wakefield will meet the growing demand for private medical care. We’ve consulted widely to inform our design and have invested in the most up to date technologies available.” An example of this, is the AirFRAME and Indigo-Clean lighting solution which continuously purifies and sanitises air and surfaces in the operating rooms. “You can imagine just how important it is with orthopaedic surgery for instance that the environment is 100% pure, with nothing that can impact on the sterility of equipment used and the likelihood of infection,” says Sue. Evolution Healthcare purchased the Wakefield campus in 2015 and Sue has been in the role for two years. Work at the hospital was prompted before this time though post the Kaikoura Earthquakes when Council required all buildings in Wellington be assessed for seismic integrity. As a result, the buildings on the site did not meet new standards imposed. When Evolution purchased the site, the obvious answer was to demolish the old hospital, that had served its community well, and to build a brand-new hospital campus for specialists, clinicians, and nursing staff to work in and for private patients to receive the best-possible level of care at all times. The project has been undertaken in two phases: Stage 1, the building of a specialist facility was completed in August 2021. “You can imagine, all this construction is progressing through a pandemic and I really admire the way everyone involved has worked so hard to ensure the least disruption as possible.”
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