Hutt Hospital's quake-prone main block is set to be replaced with prefabricated buildings as a stop-gap measure.
Hutt Hospital's Heretaunga Block. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
An updated seismic assessment of the Heretaunga Block last week revealed only the concrete cladding was quake-prone, but the seismic rating remains just 15 percent of new building standard.
At the final meeting of the Hutt Valley and Capital and Coast District Health Board before the handover to Health New Zealand, health bosses said the decision to vacate the building was still appropriate given the overall life safety risk, but that can now be done over a longer timeframe.
Options under consideration are a single-storey building on top of the existing emergency department, carpark and roadway, or a double-storey prefab in the carpark and roadway.
The final decision will rest with Health New Zealand, which takes over from district health boards on 1 July.