Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today the project's main inpatient building could be drastically scaled back or dumped altogether in favour of retrofitting the old hospital.
Mr Radich said Saturday's protest march against hospital cuts would likely double in size following the bombshell announcement.
“The proposals . . . are completely unacceptable for Dunedin and the people of the South.
“They amount to clinical cuts and a downgrade of what is a critical regional hospital for the lower South Island, and as such they also represent a broken promise by this government.
“As such, they do a complete disservice to the people of our region, and I believe we’re right to be outraged.”
A protest march scheduled for Saturday, led by Mr Radich and city councillors, would be going ahead.
Mayor Radich says he was briefed on the proposals yesterday and met with Councillors immediately after to discuss next steps.
“It’s needed now more than ever and I expect today’s announcement simply means the likely crowd has just doubled in size.
“I call on everyone who can make it to join the march and help send a clear and unequivocal message to the government – deliver the hospital you promised, without cuts to clinical services and facilities.
“As scary as the new cost estimates are, so too is the cost of not building this hospital properly – and the people of the South will pay the price for that.”
The protest march begins at noon at the Dunedin Dental School before moving along George Street to the Octagon for speeches.
“Make no mistake – this is not over. We’re just getting started.”
New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki O Aotearoa is urging southerners to get out and protest.
"Southerners deserve more than half a hospital or a slow rebuild of the old hospital," NZNO delegate Linda Smillie said.
"These decisions will negatively impact patient care. There is a real risk that nurses will not be able to provide the appropriate level of care their patients need."
The Government knows the cost of infrastructure projects always blow out because of rising building costs, she says.
"This is cost cutting by stealth. The Government must find the additional funding needed to build this much-needed health facility.
"If the Government can find $3 billion to give to landlords and $216 million for tobacco companies, they can find the additional funding needed to build the new Dunedin hospital.
"Repurposing the existing hospital doesn’t make sense because it is not fit for purpose, and inpatient and outpatient areas need to be in close proximity.
"This option has been well investigated previously and deemed to be unfeasible," Linda Smillie says.
Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking said the announcement was deplorable and the city and the South had been ‘‘short-changed’’ by the government.
‘‘Rather than getting on ahead with a new hospital, they’ve been sitting on their hands, waiting for prices to go up so they can blame it on the previous government.’’
Ms Brooking said the government was ‘‘pitting Dunedin and the South against every other region’’.
‘‘It’s tiring and very cynical politics."
