Auckland City Hospital is a

public hospital A public hospital, or government hospital, is a hospital which is government owned and is fully funded by the government and operates solely off the money that is collected from taxpayers to fund healthcare initiatives. In some countries, this typ ...

located in Grafton,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, New Zealand. It is the largest hospital in New Zealand,
Largest hospital in New Zealand...
' - News-Medical.Net, Tuesday 29 June 2004 as well as one of the oldest medical facilities in the country. It provides a total of 1,165 beds (). It was established in 2003 as an amalgam of Auckland Hospital (acute adult care),

Starship Hospital Starship Children's Hospital is a public children's hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Opened on 18 November 1991, it was one of the first purpose-built children's hospitals in New Zealand, and is the largest such facility in the country. Althou ...

(acute children's care), Green Lane Hospital (cardio-thoracic care) and National Women's Hospital (maternity, newborn and obstetrics and gynecology). Public hospitals in Auckland have been run by Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand since 2022.

Importance

The emergency department alone sees about 47,000 patients annually (over 55,000 as of 2008),
Gridlock on the hospital frontline
' - ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspape ...

'', Sunday 24 August 2008 of which 44% are treated as in-patients. Colocated with its emergency department is the

children's emergency department, which sees another 30,000 patients annually, making the campus one of the busiest in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologic ...

. The hospital is a research and teaching facility as well, providing training for future doctors, nurses, midwives and other health professionals. Rare or complex medical conditions from all over New Zealand may get referred here. The hospital is closely associated with

Starship Children's Health Starship Children's Hospital is a public children's hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Opened on 18 November 1991, it was one of the first purpose-built children's hospitals in New Zealand, and is the largest such facility in the country. Altho ...

, a separate subsidiary facility on the same grounds, located just to the northwest of the City Hospital. The hospital is adjacent to Auckland Medical School.

History

Previous buildings

Initially, the Auckland Hospital was housed in a timber building which occupied the Auckland City Hospital site from 1846 to 1877, providing four wards of 10 beds each, and having been designed by

Frederick Thatcher The Reverend Frederick Thatcher (1814 – 19 October 1890) was an English and New Zealand architect and clergyman. He was born at Hastings to a long-established Sussex family. He practised as an architect in London from 1835 and was one of the ...

, the architect of the St Mary's Church in Parnell. The hospital treated both Europeans and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, though the diseases were different, with the Pakeha treated mostly for the effects of alcohol abuse, while the Māori came for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

and

rheuma Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including ar ...

treatment. Thomas Moore Philson was superintendent of the hospital from 1859 to 1883. In 1877, a new building in an

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

was constructed for £25,000, designed by Philip Herepath, architect to the provincial government. Administered by T M Philson, the new hospital became known for taking on many charity cases but, partly in response, was also continually understaffed and overcrowded. There were also complaints about the limited training of the staff, which changed only with the hiring of a new matron, Annie Alice Crisp, in 1883. Having trained in the new tradition of

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War ...

, she is credited with turning the hospital from an 'old men with alcoholism institution' into a real hospital and instituting real nurse training. Her title was Lady Superintendent and she was awarded the Royal Red Cross in 1894.

Current buildings

The Herepath building was demolished in 1964 to make way for a new structure designed by architects

Stephenson & Turner Originally known as Stephenson and Meldrum (1921–1937), Stephenson and Turner (1938–1995) was a prominent Australian architectural firm, best known for the pioneering modernism of their numerous hospital designs of the 1930s and 1940s. Arthur ...

, which was completed in 1967, and still remains.Auckland Hospital
(from the Grafton Residents Association website) During the health reforms of the New Zealand health system in the early 1990s, Auckland Hospital was run as a business - in the model of

state-owned enterprises of New Zealand State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in New Zealand are registered companies listed under Schedules 1 and 2 of the ''State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986''. Most SOEs are former government departments or agencies that were corporatised. They are respon ...

, i.e. with the instruction to return a profit. In accordance with this policy, Auckland Hospital was officially known as ''Auckland Crown Health Enterprise''. The current hospital facility, opened in 2003, is an amalgam of four previously separate hospitals: Auckland Hospital (acute adult care), Starship (acute children's care), Green Lane Hospital (cardio-thoracic care) and National Women's Hospital (maternity, newborn and

obstetrics and gynecology Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and ...

). The hospital is situated in a NZ$180 million building which was built between 2000 and 2003.Auckland City Hospital
(from the project database of

Fletcher Construction The Fletcher Construction Company Limited is a New Zealand construction company and a subsidiary of Fletcher Building. Together with Higgins Contractors Ltd it makes up the Construction division of Fletcher Building. Fletcher Construction is wid ...

) It is nine levels high (ten including plant), five levels less than the older part of the hospital, which has now become the support building. The new structure with 75,575 m² is one of New Zealand's largest public buildings. It was designed by Jasmax in conjunction with McConnel Smith and Johnson Architects Sydney, and built by

. From 2001 until 2022, Auckland City Hospital was part of Auckland District Health Board. On 1 July 2022 Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand and Te Aka Whai Ora – Māori Health Authority became Aotearoa’s new national health authorities and Auckland DHB as an entity was disestablished and became part of Health New Zealand.

Facilities

The following information are excerpts from the construction company's database: * Level 01 - Clinical record &

medical waste Biomedical waste or hospital waste is any kind of waste containing infectious (or potentially infectious) materials. It may also include waste associated with the generation of biomedical waste that visually appears to be of medical or laborator ...

/ waste storage * Level 02 - Children's & adults

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

s * Level 03 -

Cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular h ...

general and specialist wards * Level 04 -

Operating theatre An operating theater (also known as an operating room (OR), operating suite, or operation suite) is a facility within a hospital where surgical operations are carried out in an aseptic environment. Historically, the term "operating theater" refe ...

s (7), Hybrid operating room (1),

intensive care unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensi ...

s * Level 05 -

Radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...

centre, acute stroke unit * Level 06 - General medicine,

dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medica ...

infectious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

and

haematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

wards * Level 07 - General surgery,

trauma Trauma most often refers to: *Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source *Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic inju ...

orthopaedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

rheumatology Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

urology Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and '' -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive org ...

and

respiratory The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies gre ...

wards * Level 08 - Operating theatres (13),

neurology Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and pe ...

wards, department of critical care medicine * Level 09 - Operating theatres (4), pre- and

postnatal The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to end within 6 weeks as the mother's body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state. The terms puerperium, puerperal perio ...

care,

neonatal intensive care unit A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), also known as an intensive care nursery (ICN), is an intensive care unit (ICU) specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. Neonatal refers to the first 28 days of life. Neonatal care, as k ...

s * Level 10 - Plant rooms (air conditioning etc...) The support building (old hospital) mostly contains administrative offices, clinical and housekeeping support, physio- and

occupational therapy Occupational therapy (OT) is a global healthcare profession. It involves the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or ''occupations'', of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of ...

, the bone marrow transplant ward, some inpatient and outpatient services as well as teaching and research facilities. The support building is a central part of the hospital complex and is linked to the new building section by a skywalk.Auckland City Hospital: Our History
(from the Auckland District Health Board website)

References

External links

Auckland City Hospital
(Auckland DHB website)
Auckland City Hospital
(database entry on healthpoint.co.nz website)

held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. {{Coord, -36.860549, 174.76995, format=dms, type:landmark_region:NZ, display=title Hospital buildings completed in 1846 Hospital buildings completed in 1877 Hospital buildings completed in 1967 Hospital buildings completed in 2003 Buildings and structures in Auckland Teaching hospitals in New Zealand Hospitals established in 1846 Frederick Thatcher buildings 1846 establishments in New Zealand