The Dunedin mayor was part of a large southern delegation, which included several city councillors, Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark and Waitaki District Mayor Gary Kircher, who travelled to Wellington to plead their case for the new Dunedin hospital yesterday.
In September, the government announced it was looking at either retro-fitting the existing hospital or pursuing a downscaled version of the inpatients building at the former Cadbury site.
The government has set a budget of $1.88billion.
The delegation yesterday met Health Minister Shane Reti and Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds to discuss the hospital project.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) head of infrastructure Blake Lepper was also present at the meeting.
Mr Radich said yesterday he was aware HNZ and Dr Reti’s staff were working "tirelessly" to bring the project within the budget.
However, Mr Radich reiterated the hospital needed to be delivered as promised.
"It's been peer reviewed so it is the right size and it can't be any smaller, so it's very important.
When asked whether the government would put extra money into the project, Mr Radich said any answer he gave would be "pure speculation".
He said the government "did not commit" to a timeframe for the announcement about the next steps for the project.
"They are looking to make the decision as soon as they possibly can.
"The sooner they know, the sooner they make it, the sooner they can get on with the job, the sooner they can get some contracts in place."
A spokeswoman for Dr Reti said it was a constructive and useful meeting, but declined to give details about what was discussed, or respond to Mr Radich’s point about whether more money might be needed.
"We talked through the various issues and I think the historic challenges that have got us to the place where we are today."
All involved now knew the contract had been too open-ended at the cost of taxpayers, Mr Kircher said.
There was also clarity about the challenges the government had with funding generally, he said.
"I think there's some really good work going on to cut unnecessary costs and hopefully we end up with the services we need."
The delegation also delivered an updated petition to Parliament with more than 30,000 signatures, as well as thousands of postcards with messages from the South.
Mr Radich said he believed the campaign was "certainly creating an impression of the depth of feeling".
The delegation also travelled through the capital in their specially-branded ambulance "Cliff" to spread the message about the new hospital, he said.
