{"id":625097,"date":"2026-10-09T06:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T06:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/625097\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T06:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T06:30:09","slug":"north-shores-biggest-private-hospital-expansion-southern-cross-is-spending-190m-hospital-with-eight-theatres-will-have-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/625097\/","title":{"rendered":"North Shore\u2019s biggest private hospital expansion: Southern Cross is spending $190m, hospital with eight theatres will have 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

Debbie Minton, hospital general manager, said about 7500 patients were now treated there annually.<\/p>\n

But the extra capacity could be more than 11,000 patients at the hospital annually.<\/p>\n

A Southern Cross spokeswoman said: \u201cOur capacity will increase and patient numbers will increase, but we are unable to put a definitive number on patient numbers at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

White said the expansion would take the footprint to 1.9ha or 19,000sq m.<\/p>\n

Minton indicated that could allow about 4000 patients to be treated annually.<\/p>\n

White cited growing population and demand for private hospital procedures.<\/p>\n

The site is 3.1ha, all zoned for healthcare, which White said allowed for the expansion because the area where the new building is rising is a former open car park, asphalted and on a relatively flat part of the site.<\/p>\n

The hospital\u2019s location on a rise overlooking Wairau Valley gave wide views back to the CBD and beyond, so new operating theatres would have windows, White said.<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris White at the big construction site which will result in the North Shore hospital nearly doubling in size. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n

To give it more room, Southern Cross bought two neighbouring residential properties on its boundaries: 200 Wairau Rd towards the front entrance and 26 View Rd at the back or goods entrance. <\/p>\n

Houses are on both sites. <\/p>\n

About 45 car parks will be developed at 200 Wairau Rd, while no decision has yet been made about 26 View Rd, White said.<\/p>\n

It could be kept and used for storage or training, or demolished.<\/p>\n

Staff numbers, now 285, could grow to about 400.<\/p>\n

Parking spaces will go from the 330 currently to about 380. <\/p>\n

\" Plans for a big expansion of North Harbour Hospital, owned by Southern Cross. Image \/ Southern Cross Health Trust<\/p>\n

Two existing connected buildings on the site will be reconfigured.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd all this has to happen while the hospital continues to operate,\u201d said White, standing on a walkway, glazed on the side overlooking the construction site.<\/p>\n

Sixty-six surgeons now work at the hospital whose management is fully owned by Southern Cross.<\/p>\n

But the business plans to form a new management company and allow surgeons and specialists to buy into that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be a joint venture operation,\u201d White said of that planned new management arrangement.<\/p>\n

Southern Cross will, however, continue to fully own the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoint ventures will be determined over the next six to 12 months as people express interest and we set up the legal entity. <\/p>\n

\u201cThose 66 surgeons are working hard, so we would hope some will want to become participants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SouthernSouthern Cross North Harbour Hospital on Auckland’s North Shore at Glenfield is being expanded. Image \/ Southern Cross Healthcare<\/p>\n

The joint ventures give specialist shares and dividends for their capital contributions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can sell those shares. That makes it advantageous for younger surgeons. Partnerships are where everyone is invested in the patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surgical case mix at the hospital is multi-speciality, including a large number of orthopaedic and soft tissue surgeries. Those include a robotic programme. <\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris White at Southern Cross Brightside Hospital where a $150m expansion is due to begin soon. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n

The expanded hospital will have more inpatient surgical services.<\/p>\n

More day-stay and surgical facilities, more specialists and the opportunity for a more co-ordinated healthcare delivery at one site are other aims. <\/p>\n

Vehicle access and parking would be changed to make improvements, White said.<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris White on land in Epsom owned by Southern Cross, where a $150m expansion to Southern Cross Brightside is planned. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n

Across at Epsom, Southern Cross plans a $150m expansion<\/a>, yet to be signed off by the Environment Court.<\/p>\n

All up, the hospital business is spending $340m on the two properties.<\/p>\n

White said it was unprecedented. The most it had ever spent on an expansion previously was last year in Wellington with a $90m upgrade of its Newtown site. <\/p>\n

Tony Randerson, president of the Eden Epsom Residential Protection Society, said terms and conditions were now being negotiated with a November 30 deadline on the Brightside expansion.<\/p>\n

This month, separate business Southern Cross Medical Care Society Group reported<\/a> paying $1.8b in claims, got $2.1b in premiums and turned last year\u2019s $51.8m deficit into a $146.9m surplus.<\/p>\n

Southern Cross North Harbour<\/p>\n

232 Wairau Rd, Glenfield$190m expansion under wayEight operating theatres go to 1510,000sq m existing buildings9000sq m additional building now risingBuilding by Savory ConstructionDelivery and build partner by project managers ExpediteDesign by Warren & Mahoney ArchitectsStaff to go from 285 to 400330 car parks go to 3807500 patients annually Could rise to 11,000 patients<\/p>\n

Anne Gibson<\/a> has been the Herald\u2019s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Debbie Minton, hospital general manager, said about 7500 patients were now treated there annually. But the extra capacity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[23968,307105,226977,6326,1308,17353,13845,27507,13689,71,20589,305,134,527,2241,3274,185,1132,111,139,529,69,17177,1136,3109,18484,84484,171,8262,199,37168,1533,102],"class_list":["post-625097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-23968","tag-307105","tag-190m","tag-biggest","tag-compared","tag-cross","tag-eight","tag-existing","tag-expansion","tag-from","tag-harbour","tag-have","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-hospital","tag-hospitals","tag-is","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-operating","tag-private","tag-public","tag-shore","tag-shores","tag-southern","tag-spending","tag-take","tag-theatres","tag-will","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}