New Zealand's first hospital chapel will avoid demolition – for a third time.

The Christchurch Nurses Memorial Chapel in Riccarton Ave was built in 1927 as a memorial to nurses who died during World War I.

It has been closed since the September 2010 earthquake and it sustained more damage in the February quake.

The Canterbury District Health Board nursing executive director, Mary Gordon, said the chapel was very special and held an important place in the city's medical history.

"We are working with insurers around what repairs the building will need before reopening it," she said.

Repair work to staff and patient facilities would take priority.

"We do not have a time frame in place around repair work for the chapel but have supports around the building where weakening has occurred to minimise any further damage from earthquakes or aftershocks," she said.

The chapel has survived two demolition proposals. The first threat came in the mid 1970s when the hospital board wanted to build a temporary operating theatre on the site.

In the 1980s, the board wanted to demolish the chapel and incorporate the interior into a new chapel within the hospital.

The DHB has about $70 million of quake repairs to undertake.

The heritage-listed building now stands alone in a memorial garden and is often used for weddings.