Auckland Hospital is expecting to deal with six Covid-19 deaths a week once the country starts living with the virus next year.
The District Health Board is planning for a scenario where 90 percent of the eligible population is vaccinated, the borders have opened but there are still some level two type restrictions.
It thinks it's likely there would be on average more than 1000 community cases in its area and would be admitting 33 Covid-19 patients a week.
The plan includes upgrades to intensive care, paediatric intensive care and maternity wards - doing work like improving ventilation or creating safe areas for non-Covid patients.
Andrew Stapleton from the Intensive Care Society told health correspondent Rowan Quinn similar work is happening in other hospitals.
