NZ budget 2026 commits $400m to hospital upgrades, health minister says

This forms part of a 10-year Health Infrastructure Plan launched in 2025.

The New Zealand government has allocated more than $400m (NZ$680m) in capital spending for hospital infrastructure under Budget 2026, Health Minister Simeon Brown said.

Brown said the programme forms part of the next phase of the 10-year Health Infrastructure Plan announced in April 2025.

Whangārei Hospital will have a new 158-bed ward tower and an approved acute services building, which will be completed in 2031.

Funding for Tauranga, Hawke’s Bay, and Palmerston North hospitals will cover site planning, design work, and early construction activity under the Regional Hospital Redevelopment Programme.

The government also committed funding to acquire land for a new hospital in the Drury area south of Auckland to serve growing populations in South Auckland and north Waikato.

Upgrades at Auckland’s Mason Clinic will improve infrastructure at New Zealand’s largest forensic psychiatric service.

Budget 2026 also supports earlier commitments, including the new Dunedin Hospital inpatient building and establishment costs for the University of Waikato medical school.

Health New Zealand (HNZ) will fund a temporary intensive care unit at Palmerston North Hospital and the fit-out of an inpatient unit at Tauranga Hospital to manage current pressure during redevelopment work.

HNZ’s additional $547.1m (NZ$930m) investment will fund mobile diagnostic units, radiology upgrades, and hospital refurbishments.

It will also support planning and design work to expand linear accelerator capacity in Christchurch, South Auckland, and Nelson.

(US$1 = NZ$1.70)