Australia's New South Wales (NSW) Government has confirmed that the A$438m ($303.2m) redevelopment of Shoalhaven Hospital is proceeding on schedule, with significant progress made on the new seven-storey acute clinical services building.
Australian Regional Health Minister Ryan Park and South Coast member Liza Butler visited the site to inspect the ongoing works.
The facility is anticipated to enhance health services in the region and create several local jobs throughout the construction phase.
The redevelopment is said to be in response to the community's increasing health needs and aims to improve patient care by providing new facilities and technology.
Park said: “The Minns Labor Government is dedicated to improving healthcare and delivering on the health infrastructure and technology for communities across NSW, in particular, focusing on the parts of the state that need it most.
“This A$438m project represents a significant investment in the health and wellbeing of the Shoalhaven community, and it is exciting to see how much progress has been made since construction started.”
Once completed, the hospital will have a new emergency department, an intensive care unit, twice the current number of operating theatres and endoscopy rooms, a cardiology inpatient unit, and a rooftop helipad.
The acute services building is expected to reach completion in 2026.
Butler said: “The Shoalhaven Hospital Redevelopment will not only deliver quality healthcare services to my local community, but it will support our economy by creating hundreds of jobs during construction and ongoing healthcare roles once the hospital is operational.”
Last month, the NSW government awarded the main construction contract for Ryde Hospital's redevelopment to Bouygues Construction subsidiary AW Edwards.
This A$526.8m ($362m) project will include a 40,000m² clinical building featuring a new emergency department, theatres, ambulatory care centre, paediatric short-stay unit, expanded intensive care unit, medical imaging facility, and additional adult overnight inpatient beds.