Covid-19 response upgrade works which will enhance the care of patients and their whānau and improve staff safety have been completed at Tauranga Hospital.

The Covid-19 Response – Oxygen Supply and Related Environmental Systems project was completed on Thursday.

The project has seen Tauranga Hospital's Ward 4C upgraded over the past few months, to establish an environment specifically designed to meet the needs of patients with Covid-19.

It will reopen today.

The work is part of the national pandemic response planning being led by the Ministry of Health. Ward 4C, a section of Tauranga Hospital's Orthopaedic Ward, has been re-purposed to provide additional oxygen supply and improved air management for environments in the ward.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief medical officer Dr Luke Bradford says the opening of the ward, which has 24 beds, is an essential part of the pandemic response for the Bay of Plenty region.

'It means that as we go through the year and we learn to live with Covid-19 in the community as case numbers rise, we will be able to care for those with Covid in a way that keeps them safe, enhances the care of patients and their whānau, and improves safety for staff.

'Negative pressure rooms can safely manage the care of patients as the contagious fluids in the air does not leave the rooms, instead it is extracted from the rooms by new ventilation systems. Patients with Covid-19 can be managed in separate bays and each part of the ward can be divided from others.”

The Ministry of Health's – CovidD-19 Response – Oxygen Supply and Related Environmental Systems project began in Tauranga Hospital in October and is now completed in both Ward 4C and in the Intensive Care Unit.