Construction has begun on the $3.2 billion new Women’s and Children’s Hospital project – as new concept vision gives a fresh glimpse of how the world-class hospital will look.
Ground was broken this morning as part of a $306 million package of first stage works on the site, making way for the hospital’s 1,300 space car park and a two-storey central energy facility.
The eight-storey car park will provide significantly more capacity for staff and visitors compared to the current hospital car park, which has around 940 spaces.
The car park building’s design will complement the surrounding park lands and will include accessible spaces, including disability car parks and pram parking.
A new flyover showing updated concept designs of the hospital’s exterior has also been unveiled today, with clinicians, staff and consumers invited to have their say on the hospital’s updated ‘block and stack’ plans.
The ‘block and stack’ plans map out where clinical services and departments are proposed to be located within each of the new hospital building’s nine levels.
Staff and patients have helped update the concept design layout plans, with their feedback resulting in changes to the location of some departments and to the shape of the building to ensure the hospital can best meet the needs of patients and staff.
Consultation on the ‘block and stack’ plans is now open for three weeks, closing on Tuesday, 21 May.
The new hospital will be the first 100 per cent electric public hospital in South Australia, with 414 overnight beds – an additional 56 compared to the current hospital – and further capacity to add an extra 20 beds in future.
It will also have a larger Emergency Department with 43 treatment spaces, state-of-the-art surgical suites and a dedicated on-site helipad.
The new site will provide room for both the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Royal Adelaide Hospital to expand in the future.
Importantly, the larger site now allows all critical care services to be co-located on one floor – including birthing, theatres, Paediatric ICU and Neonatal ICU.
It will also benefit from a four-bed integrated Intensive Care Unit for women, co-located with the Paediatric ICU enabling women requiring high-level care to remain at the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, rather than being transported to the RAH.
The project is on track for completion by 2030-31.
For more information and to provide your feedback on the internal layout designs visit the New Women’s and Children’s Hospital Project website.
The new flyover and artist impressions can be viewed here.
As put by Peter Malinauskas
This is an exciting milestone for a once-in-a-generation project that will deliver a bigger and better Women’s and Children’s Hospital for our state for decades to come.
I promised South Australians at the election that we would make decisions in the interests of the long term, not the short term, and this is a prime example of that.
The new Women’s and Children’s Hospital will have 56 more beds than the current hospital, plus capacity for another 20 more beds on top of that.
The site also ensures room for both the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Royal Adelaide Hospital to expand in the future.
As put by Chris Picton
We are today breaking ground on our bigger and better new Women’s and Children’s Hospital project that will help South Australian families receive the very best health care.
We chose this site because we knew it was the right option to ensure the best design possible for the hospital without any limitations on the care it will be able to provide to South Australian families well into the future.
This larger site allows all critical care services to be co-located on one floor – including birthing, theatres, Paediatric ICU and Neonatal ICU.
Consulting with staff and the community is important in getting the design layout right and we are taking the advice of clinicians to ensure we build the best hospital possible for the long-term.
As put by Women’s and Children’s Health Network Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Graham
I am delighted to stand alongside our clinicians and consumers to commence these important works.
We want to build a new hospital for the long-term that is tailored to the needs of patients and their families, and I would strongly encourage South Australians to get involved in our consultation and share their thoughts on how we build a hospital fit for the future, that the community deserves and needs.
This hospital belongs to the women and children of South Australia, and I’m proud to lead the way in creating a facility for future generations.
