McKay major projects manager Rhys Farrand said he "prefers not to talk about this [the hospital build] right now . However, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand (HNZ), the government department responsible for the inpatient build, confirmed McKay as "a preferred subcontractor". The Dunedin inpatient build’s costs "could approach $3b" and a cheaper option was sought — a hospital refurbishment or a smaller build. On May 30, the new National-led government had received a review of the inpatient build from health infrastructure guru Robert Rust. In 2020, a Treasury review of the Dunedin hospital build warned it would be "paramount that sufficient commercial expertise exists both within the MoH procurement team and across industry" to complete the build.
