Southern’s Digital Hospital design plans progress

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Southern DHB has appointed engineering firm WSP to design the digital infrastructure and facility systems for the country’s first Digital Hospital, being built in Dunedin.

The DHB went to tender for the role last year, describing it as a “unique opportunity” as the consultant would have responsibility for the design and assurance of the digital infrastructure across the entire project.

Peter Ganter, director of Ganter Consulting in Australia, is working with Southern on its digital plans and says the DHB has two parallel work streams, one for infrastructure and one for software solutions.

The commercial model for the infrastructure workstream was to appoint a design consultant to lead all aspects of the digital facilities and digital infrastructure process.

Ganter says digital infrastructure is now so integrated and complex that it needs its own design and specification, as well as a strategy to implement it. WSP is responsible for designing all the active infrastructure and coordinating with the physical building design.

Once the developed design report is complete, around June July 2022, the DHB will go to market for an infrastructure delivery partner to install and supply the equipment that has been designed and specified.

Ganter started working with the southern DHB about two years ago and was involved in drafting the Dunedin Hospital Digital Blueprint.

“That became a catalyst for a broader digital transformation program as we very quickly identified that it wasn't just about infrastructure in the new building,” he says.

“To truly deliver some of the transformation that the health service was after, we needed to also introduce new software solutions across the Southern health system.”

Ganter says Southern DHB’s approach is uniquely ambitious in taking on the broader health system transformation at the same time as the new building.

“We are using the new hospital as the catalyst to do this transformation, but we will stage the implementation so that we don't have too much change happening at one particular time,” he explains.

“There are plenty of examples in Australia where they've taken on too much change at once by trying to implement a lot of new software solutions at the same time as opening the building and they haven't gone particularly well. So, we will make sure that we stagger that organisational change.”

Southern DHB plans to submit a Detailed Business Case for investment in digital infrastructure to Cabinet for approval this month.

Picture: An artist’s impression of a new Dunedin Hospital (Jacob)


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