27 Oct 2010

Wellington mental health facility to be upgraded

3:36 pm on 27 October 2010

A long-awaited project to upgrade acute mental health inpatient facilities at Wellington Hospital is going ahead.

Health Minister Tony Ryall says refurbishment of Te Whare o Matairangi, also known as Ward 27, will begin early next year and take up to 18 months.

The work is estimated to cost more than $5 million and will be funded from within Capital and Coast District Health Board's internal capital expenditure budget.

The cash-strapped DHB says the current facility is old, impinging on modern care and desperately in need of an upgrade.