After six years, a lot of hard work and donations throughout the country, the facility, which will cater to those struggling to access care through the public or private health systems, was officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a celebration for the whole community.
The hospital in Invercargill was the brainchild of Blair Vining, who died of bowel cancer in 2019 at the age of 39.
He and his wife launched the project about six years ago when he was diagnosed and got support from people from all over the country.
"It's really hard to describe [what I am feeling] in words, but it's just a real mixture of feelings — really excited, really happy, and also emotional with obviously Blair's bucket list [being] ticked off."
When asked what she believed her husband would say about the day, she said his words would probably not be printable.
"Because they would be explicit, but he would just be really loud and happy and shouty and proud of what the community's achieved in getting the hospital open."
The hospital has a fully equipped operating room, a dental suite, six recovery beds and other health facilities to provide a range of services.
It will initially provide colonoscopies. Other services such as dentistry will be provided later and will be free to people in Otago and Southland who cannot afford private care and cannot afford the wait for public care.
Ms Vining said she hoped the facility could help slash the waiting list time for a colonoscopy, which was 11 months.
"The waiting lists are a real problem at the moment, they've actually got significantly worse, so for people that are on the surveillance list, it's blown out to over an 11-month wait.
That's really concerning because people who are on surveillance colonoscopies have regular colonoscopies based on their risk.
"My own brother was 11 months overdue for his surveillance colonoscopy and became symptomatic during that time and my dad, who is a bowel cancer survivor and has regular surveillance colonoscopies, he was due April last year, so he's very overdue for his colonoscopy."
She said they were only two of many in the same situation.
"Today I've been thinking about the people that we've lost due to not having access to public healthcare. I'm thinking of them and their families and really hoping ... I feel hopeful. I feel like, yay, we can finally do something to help."
The first patients are expected this month, and the hospital plans to perform four colonoscopies a day, with the intention to double this number.
