In May 1959, Dr John North, Medical Superintendent presented to the Hospital Board, a Report on Development Plans for the Wellington Hospital District.  The report covered the needs of all of the Board's districts, which included the Hutt Valley, the Porirua basin & the west coast as far as Paraparaumu.   Required bed numbers were based on estimates of the likely population in each area by the year 2000.   Compare these estimates with the actual 2001 Census counts:

For Wellington city, the redevelopment plan called for a multi-staged building programme, beginning with Block A (the Seddon Wing), followed immediately by the demolition of Wards 1 and 2, and the erection of Block B - to house new Pathology & Radiology services.  Stages III & IV involved progressive replacement of the remaining original wards with new Ward blocks.

Over the next 17 years, various revisions of planning detail were made, but the original goal of replacing all of the original Newtown hospital buildings was preserved.  In 1961, the plans for Block B included theatres, and 5 wards.  This was not favoured by the Board, and a 6-storey block B was proposed with 2 floors each for Pathology, Radiology & Theatres.   By 1964, the plans for Block B included wards once again.   At this stage, the overall plan was for an 800-bed hospital in Wellington.   Toward the end of the 1960s, the inclusion of a Medical School on the Newtown site was proposed.  This required further re-planning of the Hospital redevelopment, and there were delays relating to a lengthy debate on whether there should be a full Medical School or a Clinical School only.