Page 4531 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 26 November 2019
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the territory. This is the first step in the development of a new facility. We anticipate that this feasibility work will be completed by mid-2020.
There is significant work underway to boost services at both Calvary Public Hospital Bruce and Clare Holland House. This government recognises that Calvary is a major part of the territory’s health network, particularly on the north side of Canberra. We are expanding Calvary’s capacity to perform elective surgery, with two new theatres being commissioned. One theatre will open in this financial year, and the second theatre in 2020-21. This will provide the necessary resources to expand the ACT’s elective surgery program in the short term. The expansion will start with 250 more surgeries in 2019-20.
Construction on the $6.7 million expansion of Calvary’s emergency department is well underway and due for completion early next year. The expansion will deliver 24 additional treatment spaces, bringing the total to 61, and will see more doctors, nurses, administrators and other health professionals joining the hospital to support the physical expansion.
Works are also well underway to collocate the adult mental health unit and the older persons mental health inpatient unit, providing a cohesive mental health hub at Calvary. The upgrades will provide a more modern adult mental health unit, with improved ward layouts, allowing for increased security and visibility of patients, and an outdoor area. When completed later this year, these works will support the delivery of enhanced treatment and care.
A major expansion of the much-loved Clare Holland House will also begin later this year. The expansion will boost palliative care services in the territory as our community grows. It will increase the number of specialist inpatient palliative care beds and provide more features to enable patients to enjoy the company of loved ones, family and friends, as well as improved administration and clinical support spaces. The expansion has been made possible with the support of the Australian government and the Snow Foundation.
Canberra Hospital is the main tertiary hospital between Sydney and Melbourne. It is and will remain a vital asset for our community and region. With the SPIRE project underway, along with other projects such as the Centenary hospital expansion, it is timely to look at the overall future of the Canberra Hospital site to ensure that it continues to cater for the expected growth in demand for health care in the coming years and decades and can continue to provide a wide range of cutting-edge and world-class medical services.
To ensure that the clinical and logistical operations of the campus receive the full benefit of current and future capital investment projects, we are developing a core planning document for the entire site, the Canberra Hospital master plan. The master plan will provide a comprehensive planning framework setting out how the campus could change into the future. The change horizon is 20 years, from 2021 through to 2040.
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