Page 2142 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 5 June 2019
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As also announced last week, a significant investment by the ACT government will be complemented by a new ANU building, a significant and very welcome investment from the ANU, to boost teaching, training and a research presence on the Canberra Hospital campus. This investment by the ANU means Canberra and the SPIRE centre will be very attractive to the best and brightest students and clinicians, not only nationally but internationally, who want to do their medical training and research in a modern, state-of-the-art facility. It will greatly enhance our city’s capacity to attract and retain high-calibre medical and clinical staff.
SPIRE’s expanded scope has also created an opportunity for the ACT Health Directorate, together with Canberra Health Services and our education partners, the ANU and the University of Canberra, to revisit the Canberra Hospital master plan. With SPIRE as the catalyst for the revitalisation of the campus, the Canberra Hospital master plan will review site opportunities and constraints to provide a vision for what can be achieved on the campus to deliver high quality, efficient and accessible hospital services in facilities that will meet the sustainability and technology standards required of a contemporary, future-focused healthcare facility.
The second major development underway at Canberra Hospital is the expansion of the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children. Since it opened in 2012, thousands of babies have been born at the Centenary hospital. The planning and expansion work underway will increase existing services such as maternity and neonatology and create space for new services designed to meet the needs of young people. An important inclusion is the adolescent mental health unit. The new unit will include inpatient and day services and go a long way to continuing to supporting young Canberrans experiencing mental health issues.
Across the lake, we know that the population on Canberra’s north side is growing. Investing in health infrastructure and services at Calvary Public Hospital is a key component of territory-wide health service planning. Last week the government announced an additional investment of $40.5 million to improve services at Calvary Public Hospital. In total, this will provide funding for 81 new doctors, nurses, administrative and other health professionals at Calvary Hospital, including new staff for the expanded ED. The funding will also deliver two additional operating theatres, the first coming online next financial year, and the second in the following year. This is to ensure that Calvary Public Hospital can continue its excellent track record in delivering elective surgery and continue to deliver more of the load of elective surgery across the territory.
This is on top of additional money provided by the ACT government to Calvary last year for the refurbishment and expansion of the Calvary maternity ward and the expansion of the emergency department. Last year I joined with the chair of the Little Company of Mary and we announced that the ACT Health Directorate, Canberra Health Services and the Little Company of Mary are exploring expansion improvement opportunities for Calvary Hospital as part of territory-wide health infrastructure planning, and indeed a down payment on that work was provided in the 2017-18 budget.
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