Health Minister Tony Ryall officially opened a new wing of North Shore's hospital today. The unit is an emergency department with a diagnostic and assessment unit.

The unit for assessment and diagnostics will be incredibly convenient to patients because it will allow those who need a diagnosis but not hospital admission to get in and out in the same day.

In 2009, North Shore's Emergency Department received a critical review from the Health and Disability Commissioner, and the $50 million investment to create and open this new unit was one of the first investments announced by the government. Recently though, the hospital has received a lot of praise especially in regards to how well it dealt with the earthquake last week. The hospital staff successfully treated a number of serious injuries including spinal fractures, hip fractures, and life-threatening crush injuries.

"You've done this without this new facility", said Mr. Ryall. "Imagine what you can achieve for patients in the next six months"!

The facility will be open for patient use on March 21 and will add 30 more beds, bringing the total number of beds to 84. In addition to the new wing at North Shore, the government has invested more than $400 million in the last year and a half to improve hospitals and patient care across the country in places like Tauranga, Whangarei, Auckland, Greenlane and Whakatane.