Christchurch Hospital is the largest

tertiary hospital A tertiary referral hospital (also called a tertiary hospital, tertiary referral center, tertiary care center, or tertiary center) is a hospital that provides tertiary care, which is a level of health care obtained from specialists in a large hos ...

in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand. The public hospital is in the centre of

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

city, on the edge of Hagley Park, and serves the wider

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

region. The

Canterbury District Health Board The Canterbury District Health Board (Canterbury DHB or CDHB; ) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to the Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury region of New Zealand, north of the Rangitata River. It was responsibl ...

(CDHB) operates the hospital with funding from the government. Christchurch Hospital is the

major trauma centre A major trauma centre (MTC) is a specialist unit within the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, set up to provide specialised trauma care and rehabilitation. They are usually found within larger hospitals in major cities which have ...

for northern and central Canterbury, and the tertiary major trauma centre for the wider Canterbury and West Coast regions. It has the busiest ED in the South Island and sees more major trauma than any other hospital in New Zealand, and all but a handful of hospitals in Australia. The

Christchurch School of Medicine The University of Otago, Christchurch is one of seven component schools that make up the University of Otago Division of Health Sciences. The University of Otago, Christchurch is based primarily at Christchurch Hospital, in Christchurch Centr ...

is on the hospital campus, the school provides teaching for fourth, fifth and sixth year medical students, and is part of the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

. A new building, sitting behind the original Christchurch Hospital buildings, named ‘Waipapa’ was opened in 2020 and houses Canterbury DHB’s acute services. Christchurch Hospital’s Emergency Department is now located within Waipapa. The hospital’s helipad now sits atop of the Waipapa building, and replaces the previous one situated in Hagley Park to the southwest along Hagley Avenue.

History

The Provincial Government voted £1,500 to building the hospital in Christchurch in 1861. The initial building was a two-storied "barn-like structure" on Hagley Park at Riccarton Avenue. It opened on 1 June 1862, after "Hands off Hagley" protests by citizens. The last of the original buildings were demolished in 1917. In 2009, the CDHB announced a

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...

400 million proposal to replace some of the hospital buildings, including a new 450-bed hospital, a rooftop helipad and additional operating theatres. The construction was due to start in 2011, and be expected to take three years. Following the earthquakes, construction plans were scrapped and over the next five years, the Burwood Health Campus and the Christchurch Hospital underwent a $650 million redevelopment. This is the biggest ever investment in public health facilities in New Zealand. At Christchurch Hospital, the new Acute Services Building, now named Waipapa, has: * 62,000m2 total area * 13 lifts in the building * Built with steel framing (6,000 tonnes of structural steel and over 100,000 bolts) with a curtain wall made up of 1,300 panels * Lots of natural light * Significant seismic protection in the building – apart from the base isolators there is a large amount of seismic bracing, gaps in the stairs to allow movement and special joints in the pipes that run services such as hot water, steam and air conditioning * Tower A (Level 3 – 9) – General Surgery wards, Vascular, Stroke, Children’s medical, Children’s Haematology and Oncology Centre (CHOC) and the helipad * Tower B (Level 3 – 8) – Neurology and Neuro Surgery, Children’s Surgery, Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer support, Oncology, Orthopedics and General Surgery * Level 2 – Sterile Services and administration areas * Level 1 – Intensive Care, Theatres and Radiology * Ground Floor – Emergency Department, Medical Assessment, Acute Care and Radiology * The Lower Ground Floor has meeting rooms, shared work spaces and changing rooms for staff. The hospital played a key role in treating casualties of the February

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

, admitting 164 people with serious injuries. The quake also caused the evacuation of one ward. The hospital also played a key role in the immediate aftermath of the

Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...

, admitting 49 people with injuries from the shooting, two of whom later died in the hospital.

Notable people

* Courtney Nedwill (1837–1920), public health officer with a 30-year connection to the hospital * Catherine Stedman, professor of medicine

References

External links

Christchurch Hospital
at the Canterbury District Health Board {{Authority control Skyscrapers in Christchurch Hospital buildings completed in 1862 Hospitals established in 1862 Teaching hospitals in New Zealand 1862 establishments in New Zealand

History

Notable people

See also

References

External links