New Zealand’s Forté Hospital expands with new operating theatre

This increases its surgical capacity by 25% for an additional 1,800 surgeries annually.

New Zealand’s Forté Hospital has announced the opening of Theatre Five, its newest operating theatre.

The expansion increases the hospital’s surgical capacity by 25% to allow an additional 1,800 surgeries annually.

The facility also enabled the engagement of six additional surgeons across various specialities, including general surgery, orthopaedics, urology, and Otorhinolaryngology.

Meanwhile, Forté Health chief executive, Michael Woodhouse, said that whilst the added capacity in Canterbury can help to ease pressure on the public sector, the case for expansion is not reliant on publicly funded cases being undertaken in the new theatre.

“Despite the opening of our fifth theatre today, we will very quickly be full again because the demand for theatre space and time is extremely high,” Woodhouse said.

“We are working on plans for additional investment into Canterbury’s health sector to better support our growing population and increasing complexity of healthcare needs,” the chief executive added.