A new $100 million private elective surgical hospital is to be built in Te Puna with plans to open the facility in two years’ time.

Minden Surgical Centre will be located on a 2ha property encircling the White House Restaurant site – which will remain operational.

Its four operating theatres and 38 inpatient beds would see up to 5000 patients every year from the Bay of Plenty, through to Katikati and the Coromandel Peninsula.

Construction on the privately funded 7000sq m hospital was expected to begin in September, with completion targeted for mid-2028.

The hospital would specialise in short-stay elective procedures across ENT (ears, nose, throat), general surgery, gynaecology, plastic, and soft-tissue orthopaedics.

About 200 jobs would be generated during construction and about 100 staff were expected to be employed at the hospital when operational.

A spokesman for Minden Surgical Centre, Paul Williams, said Te Puna was becoming a “major service centre” because of its proximity to Bethlehem.

Williams is a director for Minden Property Ltd and Paul Williams Consultants Ltd – the two companies developing the majority clinician-owned hospital.

Dr Luk Chin and Dr Tim Sutton are the project’s founding clinicians.

Williams said the hospital was always intended to be on the property.

However, he said it could not go ahead without the “critical” expressway due to emergencies and connectivity. The Takitimu North Link is a 6.8km four-lane expressway between Tauranga and Te Puna due to be completed by 2028.

Williams said the expressway would enable the hospital to capture the whole Bay of Plenty.

“About 70% of private elective surgery falls under the short-stay category” – which the hospital would exclusively offer.

Williams said this allowed the hospital to focus on a high-efficiency model and advanced technology, including digitally integrated operating theatres.

He said the total cost of the project was $100 million.

Government contracts had not been issued for the hospital, but were a possibility.

Williams said the Bay of Plenty was a “high-growth area” which had been severely underserviced by healthcare.

“There’s an enormous amount of patients who travel to Hamilton because there’s no capacity here.”

He said Hamilton had three private hospitals for a similar-sized population.

Williams said the hospital would complement Grace Hospital and Tauranga Hospital.

Waipuna Hospice’s David Bryant said the Western Bay of Plenty was one of the country’s “fastest-growing regions”.

The specialist palliative care provider’s chief executive said the region’s ageing population had increased demand across the entire health system.

“As a region, we need a health system that can respond to those changing needs by investing not only in acute hospital care, but also in the community services that help people remain well, independent and supported for as long as possible.”

Bryant said more specialist services available locally should reduce the number of people who need to travel outside the region.

He said Waipuna Hospice worked alongside general practitioners, district nurses, aged residential care providers, and hospitals.

“Receiving care closer to home can make an enormous difference to patients and their families.”

Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.