Whangārei District Mayor Sheryl Mai has said she would have loved for the prime minister to see the state her hospital is in for herself amid an hours-long trip to the region today.

Jacinda Ardern was in Whangārei on Thursday, to help launch ‘Wā Poi,’ a campaign for the Rugby World Cup kicking off on Saturday.

It was a brief trip, with no time for any other stops in the city. Her visit comes just a day after Stuff reported dire staff shortages at the Whangārei Hospital, which has been called New Zealand’s “oldest and worst” hospital.

Mai said she didn’t blame Ardern for not squeezing in a visit to the hospital, but that huge investment there was needed.

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“It would be amazing if she took the time to see for herself the condition of our hospital, but today really is about celebrating an international sporting fixture that Whangārei and Auckland are hosting.”

Speaking at the Northland Rugby Club on Thursday, Northland District Mayor Sheryl Mai said she would love if Ardern could see for herself just how much work the region needs.

“[Ardern] flew in today, it’s a shame she didn’t come on the roads because the state highways are probably in an atrocious state everywhere in the country.

“But the investment that the government has made into places like our Hundertwasser Art Centre are really appreciated. We are booming as an economy, and we’ve got projects that do need doing.”

Just a couple of kilometres away at Whangārei Hospital, a costly project looms large. With sewage leaking into the walls of the medical wing, the hospital is slated for an expensive rebuild, with some parts of the hospital as old as 120 years.

And this week, New Zealand Nurses Organisation delegate and Whangārei Hospital nurse Rachel Thorn said the staffing situation was critical, with nurses working under a “code black” alert, and beds being closed on a regular basis.

In its 2021 budget, the government initially set aside $572m for the rebuild, but gave further commitment to top that up in this year’s budget.

This week, the Northern Advocate reported the preferred option will cost $944 million, which is too much for Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand to take on – opting for a rebuild budgeted at $759 million option.

Mai said a full rebuild could cost closer to $1.2 billion, but that this first phase is a good start.

”But realistically in this country, I think we’ve got to get better at doing a project and doing it well right first time.

“I know there are constraints, and I appreciate that, but the north absolutely deserves quality health care for our people.

“We know once the hospital is built it will be full from day one, so let’s future-proof it by doing the whole proposal in one hit.”

Ardern said making sure New Zealanders all over the country had quality care was a key focus of this government’s health reforms.

“We know in parts of regional New Zealand that has not been the case, it’s one of the reasons we’re reforming health care,” she said.

“This has been a region that the government has been making sure that we’re continuing that regional economic development,” she said, speaking to media after the World Cup event.

“We want to see [the region] go from strength to strength, such huge potential and opportunity and I would like to think we’ve been supporting that.”