It comes as Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) staff are working overtime to bring the inpatients building project under a new budget set by the government.
The government last month said it was deciding between a cutback inpatient building on the Cadbury site or a retrofit of the old hospital.
It was to keep the hospital within a new budget of $1.88 billion after the government reported budget blowouts.
Labour spokeswoman for health infrastructure Tracey McLellan said she was aware that one of the options discussed could result in cuts so severe the new hospital could lose its tertiary status.
"If that gets ratified, if that is an option that’s taken, then it would be absolutely disastrous for the medical school."
Tertiary hospitals often serve as referral centres for secondary hospitals in the region, providing services to a larger population and handling cases that require specialised intervention.
"I don’t know if that’s what government are going to do; I do know that work has been done looking at what services could be cut."
Otago Medical School acting dean Prof Tim Wilkinson said tertiary hospitals were affiliated with medical schools and engaged in research and teaching, contributing to advancements in medical knowledge and practices.
"The University of Otago is committed to retaining tertiary level services in our local hospital to ensure we can train medical students and allied health professionals to the highest standards.
"Tertiary status not only facilitates hands-on learning in specialised environments, but also enables our staff to conduct vital research that advances medical knowledge and practices."
Earlier this month, the ODT reported the new Dunedin hospital steering group had been presented with a number of interim design options for consideration to address the budget challenges.
One of the options included removing a floor from the hospital building, which would have been used for psychogeriatric services.
This option was not endorsed.
Meanwhile, a letter signed by 44 Southern clinical directors — addressed to Health Minister Shane Reti, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon — has urged the government not to scale down the new hospital.
Dr Reti said no options had been presented to the ministers. He did not respond to questions about whether the new Dunedin hospital would need to be a tertiary hospital.
HNZ head of infrastructure delivery Blake Lepper said it was continuing to work urgently to develop options for the new hospital to "provide the health services the people of Dunedin and the Southern district need now and into the future".
"Our process for determining the best option for the new hospital includes analysis of health-demand modelling for Dunedin and the wider region.
"It involves technical evaluation of both the existing Dunedin Hospital site and the new hospital site, alongside assessments of clinical functionality and patient need.
"While work to develop the options is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to speculate on what could and could not be included."
