Cutting beds at new Dunedin Hospital not an option - mayor

Cutting bed numbers at the new Dunedin Hospital to balance the building budget is absolutely not an option for one Southern mayor. A group of mayors met with Te Whatu Ora earlier this week to hear what options there are are for slashing more than a billion dollars out of build costs, possiblities include cheaper cladding and a smaller building size. The government revealed rebuild costs were on track to blow out to 3 billion dollars but it's insisting the hospital be completed within the current budget of about 1.9 billion, meaning potential trims, Southland mayor Rob Scott spoke to Lisa Owen.