110 | COMMUNITY Mercy Hospital We are pleased to provide structural engineering services for Mercy Hospital Building People, Creating a Sustainable Future Naylor Love offers a full range of commercial construction services throughout New Zealand. Naylor Love Dunedin | 78 Ward Street | Phone (03) 474 1153 Proudly supporting Mercy Hospital through strategic projects and creating meaningful employment pathways Hospital in line for award The Leadership Development Programme was shaped through a comprehensive organisational review. T T Karen Phelps “We wanted to ensure every leader contributed to a culture where people feel respected, supported, and empowered.” Mercy Hospital has been named a finalist in the 2026 Human Resources New Zealand Awards 2026 in the Learning and Development category, recognising its organisation-wide Leadership Development Programme. Learning and development specialist, Melissa Fuller, says the programme was an investment in growing leadership, strengthening culture and creating a consistently positive experience for employees. “Designed to build capability while embedding Mercy’s core values into everyday leadership practice, the programme reflects Mercy’s commitment to being a place where people feel supported, valued, and able to thrive,” she says. Melissa says the programme was shaped through a comprehensive organisational review led by chief people officer, Ange McNulty, drawing on employee feedback, engagement insights and workforce data. “The insight provided an opportunity not just to develop leadership capability, but to create a shared understanding of what great leadership looks like at Mercy,” says Melissa. “We wanted to ensure every leader contributed to a culture where people feel respected, supported, and empowered.” Melissa says the challenge was not simply access to training, but ensuring leadership development was relevant, embedded, and consistent. “The programme was a deliberate approach to designing something tailored and practical in a way that would positively impact the dayto-day experiences of our people.” A hospital-wide employee survey was developed to inform the design. Gap analysis identified key areas for improvement, including approachability, solution-focused leadership and personalised development support. These findings, alongside executive input, informed a 10-session programme delivered over five months to 28 people leaders across clinical and non-clinical teams. The programme was underpinned by Mercy Hospital’s core values of Hiranga (Excellence), Atawhai (Care), Whakaute (Respect), and Kotahitanga (Collaboration). A bicultural approach was embedded throughout, encouraging leaders to reflect on identity, bias, and the impact of their behaviour on others. “A key strength of the programme was its responsiveness and internal delivery model. Because we facilitated it internally, we were able to adapt sessions in real time based on feedback and discussion,” says Melissa. “That allowed learning to stay relevant and immediately applicable in the workplace. Early evaluation indicates a strong impact.” At an organisational level, the programme has strengthened collaboration between departments, improved engagement and reinforced alignment with organisational values. “The programme, alongside a number of other HR initiatives, positioned HR as a strategic partner in cultural development and workforce wellbeing, rather than a purely operational function,” says Melissa. “The initiative remains central to Mercy’s HR strategy to become an employer of choice with a continued focus on building a sustainable leadership pipeline and embedding consistent, values-led leadership practice across the organisation.” Alongside its people-development initiatives, Mercy Hospital is progressing several significant construction and redevelopment projects aimed at improving patient care, safety, capacity and functionality across the campus. Construction is currently underway at the Marinoto Clinic, where upgrades to groundfloor toilet facilities were completed over December and January to improve accessibility and meet growing demand. The wider project also includes internal seismic strengthening, re-roofing works and the reconfiguration of first-floor north suites into a smaller number of larger suites better aligned with current tenant requirements and modern clinical standards. Fire safety improvements have also been completed. Further projects are also planned, including the relocation of Pacific Radiology to a new 790sqm lower-ground-floor suite featuring updated reception areas, ultrasound rooms, X-ray and fluoroscopy facilities, and expanded staff and administration areas. The new facility will integrate with existing MRI, CT and DEXA imaging services already located on the lower ground floor. Mercy Hospital is also planning the restoration of Marinoto House, including upgraded seminar and meeting spaces, redevelopment of the main entry, and restoration of heritage exterior features. Landscape improvements have also been designed to better connect the site. In addition, Suite 17 is scheduled for redevelopment to accommodate a new consultancy tenant, continuing the modernisation programme already seen in the recently completed north wing development.
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