Their warnings came ahead of key figures in the hospital project preparing to run a public forum today.
Senior surgical trainee at Dunedin Hospital Dr Janet Rhodes told the Dunedin City Council yesterday building the new hospital to inadequate capacity would be expensive to recover from.
Offering her personal view, Dr Rhodes said failing to invest in appropriate sizing of the hospital would be a poor use of resources.
In the long run, the hospital might become clogged, she said.
The council is running a campaign against the Government’s cuts.
The council chamber yesterday featured a series of "they save, we pay" posters and councillors wore T-shirts with the phrase.
Former Southern District Health Board member Dr John Chambers said the cuts had generated an outcry.
Dr Chambers did not believe the final detailed business case approved by the Cabinet in 2021 would be revived, but said there might still be a chance to get back "some of those square metres" lost.
Grey Power Otago president Jo Millar said the hospital should proceed as it was originally designed.
People had been told by politicians the new hospital would be state-of-the-art, she said.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said the council’s campaign was receiving broad support.
"I’m seeing and hearing from a community that feels dismissed by decision-makers in Wellington."
