Hundreds turn up to see Dunedin Hospital's new outpatient building
Approximately 1,300 residents attended an open day to tour the new Dunedin Hospital outpatient building in New Zealand. The facility is expected to significantly increase capacity for scans, surgeries, and specialist appointments, replacing an aging infrastructure.
Why it matters
The opening of this major health infrastructure project represents a significant improvement in public healthcare access for the local community.
A hospital is not usually a place people want to spend a lot of time in, let alone give up some of their Saturday to go to.
But about 1300 people jumped at the chance to explore the new Dunedin Hospital outpatient building as part of a free community open day on 12 September.
The new build - which was one of the country's biggest health infrastructure projects - was expected to allow for thousands of more scans, day surgeries and specialist appointments each year .
Retired GP Sharleen was relieved to walk through the new building, saying it was beautiful and fit for purpose, unlike the old hospital, which has not been for a long time.
"It feels like a bit of a rabbit warren at the moment but I think that's just a question of getting the signage and things sorted out and outfitted," she said.
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