A 48-bed hospital expansion to support the growing population in Adelaide’s north is taking shape, with construction works on-track to be completed in September.
The $47 million project at Lyell McEwin Hospital will deliver two new 24-bed inpatient wards.
These 48 beds are part of the 150 newly built beds that will be opening this year as the Malinauskas Government builds a bigger health system. This is part of our plan to open 550 extra beds.
The works will provide 48 single rooms with ensuites and speciality care features to improve the comfort and wellbeing of patients requiring a higher level of support.
This includes four large bariatric rooms, another four larger-sized patient rooms with bariatric features, two Negative Pressure Isolation rooms, four dementia friendly rooms and four hardened rooms (two of which are bariatric).
As part of the new build – approximately 5,900 square metres across a single level – there are Clean Utility Rooms capable of accommodating the planned roll out of Automated Drug Dispenser Units.
The extra beds at Lyell McEwin will help to deal with the increased demand at the hospital. Over the past decade, the Lyell McEwin Hospital has seen a 28.5 per cent increase in ambulance patients and a 17 per cent increase to inpatient stays.
The rooms are already coming to life with the first coat of paint, the installation of the floor and wall vinyl, and tiling, now underway.
All major works are now complete and the tower crane, which has been a prominent feature in the local skyline, is due to be removed in May.
The external scaffolding will also be removed in May, allowing the helipad to come back into operation in coming months.
This development has also been a huge boost for South Australian suppliers and tradespeople with almost 160,000 construction work hours, 958 jobs created during the construction phase, and up to 160 trades on site at its busiest period with all on site sub-contractor works delivered by South Australian businesses.
The exciting project marks a major milestone in the State Government’s investment to increase the hospital’s capacity and improve patient flow by increasing the number of emergency department (ED) and inpatient beds.
Earlier this year, the final phase of the $58 million ED upgrade was completed, delivering an additional 1,900 square meters of emergency clinical floor space and bringing the total number of ED treatment spaces to 76.
A vacant 1.79-hectare parcel of land next to the hospital has also been acquired to provide options for the hospital’s future expansion.
The State Government last week announced that the $314 million Clinical Services Building at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH) was on track to be completed mid-year, providing 52 new beds for TQEH and a new, expanded Emergency Department that is almost 50 per cent larger than the current ED.
Images and video of the development is available here.
As put by Peter Malinauskas
We are committed to growing South Australia. The state is building, providing new infrastructure to service our community now, and into the future.
We are adding hundreds of new beds to our hospital system over this year and next.
The northern suburbs of Adelaide have been crying out for more hospital beds and better health services.
Opening more beds will improve patient flow at our hospitals and contribute to fixing the ramping crisis.
Ramping at the Lyell McEwin hospital decreased by 37 per cent in February compared to October 2023.
This is a positive sign, but we know there’s a lot more to do.
As put by Chris Picton
It is exciting to see work close to completion on the new beds at the Lyell McEwin Hospital – a sizeable boost to capacity of the northern suburbs.
The removal of the tower crane and the external scaffolding in May will be a great sign to locals that work is almost complete.
We are building more beds across a number of hospitals to ensure people get access to treatment when they need it.
These 48 beds at the Lyell McEwin will allow patients to flow from the ED into inpatient beds faster.
This is a win for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who work in the northern suburbs, and for the community as a whole.
As put by Northern Adelaide Local Health Network Interim Chief Executive Officer, Karen Puvogel
It is wonderful to see the progress being made to deliver more beds for our patients and greater capacity for our teams to deliver care for our community.
Adelaide’s northern suburbs have seen significant population growth in recent years which has resulted in greater demand for our services.
These significant infrastructure projects will allow us to meet higher demand while delivering world-class health care to those who need it.
