Perth’s new Women and Babies Hospital will be shifted from Nedlands to the southern suburbs, in part because of planning issues highlighted one year ago by Business News.
Perth’s new Women and Babies Hospital will be shifted from Nedlands to the southern suburbs, in part because of planning issues highlighted one year ago by Business News.
The $1.8 billion hospital will be built on a car park just south of Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch.
Today’s change of plan comes 15 months after Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson announced the hospital would be built at the northern end of the QEII Medical Centre in Nedlands.
At the time, she said the site selection followed “a comprehensive site analysis and evaluation”.
Ms Sanderson said today the new location would enable the hospital to be built without disruption to patients and staff at existing facilities, notably Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
“The potential disruption to patients and staff is far greater than first anticipated at the QEII site and we have no intention of compromising on patient care and safety or causing unnecessary disruption to an already busy campus,” she said.
The minister added that the complex nature of the build would have resulted in higher costs and the hospital opening much later than planned.
The proposed location is also a busy site; it is home to Fiona Stanley Hospital and St John of God Murdoch Hospital, while property group Hesperia is developing a number of new buildings, including a medi hotel.
The government claims the proposed location, to the south of Fiona Stanley Hospital, will cause minimal disruption.
It also said there would be improved parking and transport connectivity at the new site.
New multi-storey parking stations will be constructed in the Fiona Stanley precinct to offset the loss of existing car bays where the new hospital will be built.
The government also said the new site meant it would not have to deal with the private company that ran the parking stations at QEII.
The privatisation of parking by the Barnett government was highlighted by Business News in a review of planning issues confronting the QEII site.
The 28-year contract held by IPG - which specialises in managing hospital car parks across the country - means the government would have been forced to negotiate with the private company (anathema to the McGowan Labor government).
That article also highlighted long-running concerns about the lack of mass transit public transport to QEII.
In addition, it revealed plans had been submitted for a new 1,900-bay parking station at QEII to cope with expected passenger traffic to the site.
The government said today that proximity to Murdoch train station and the medi hotel were pluses for the new site.
However, the proposed parking station indicates that car transport will remain pivotal.
The new location means maternity services will be concentrated in one location.
More than 3,000 babies a year are currently delivered at Fiona Stanley Hospital.
In a bid to appease northern suburbs families, the government plans to build a family birthing centre alongside Osborne Park Hospital but did not provide details.
It also said Perth Children’s Hospital would be expanded with extra neonatal capacity.
Ms Sanderson argued today the new location had a number of medical advantages, in a change from what she said 15 months ago.
“A key consideration of the co-location of the Women and Babies Hospital with a tertiary hospital is to ensure that our sickest women have access to a state-of-the-art ICU,” she said today.
“This makes Fiona Stanley Hospital the obvious choice.”
One year ago, Ms Sanderson said the QEII site would improve access to clinical services at both Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Perth Children's Hospital.
“A key factor in the decision to build in the selected location is its advantage in future-proofing the QEII Medical Centre over a 40-year period, including future redevelopments of the Perth Children's Hospital, SCGH, PathWest and teaching and research facilities,” she added.
Site works at the Murdoch site are forecast to commence in 2024, one year later than previously planned.