- Cook Government set to purchase St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital for
use as a public hospital in 2026, subject to the outcome of commercial negotiations
- New era for Royal Perth Hospital and
Peel Health Campus with major new construction projects to commence next year
- Projects to be funded from $1.5
billion Building Hospitals Fund
- New hospital capacity key to Cook
Government's strategy to help Western Australians access the healthcare they
need, when they need it
Western Australia's public hospital system is
set to benefit from a historic transformation, with the Cook Government to
green light three major new public hospital projects.
St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital is set to come
into public hands, with negotiations at an advanced stage for the purchase of
the 197-bed facility by the State Government.
The
government will continue negotiations with St John of God Health Care with
the aim of delivering new hospital capacity in 2026.
With some beds at the hospital already
contracted to WA Health, this will see up to 100 additional beds online in the
public system from next year, as well as eight additional operating theatres
available to public patients for surgery.
In addition, the ground capacity at the
hospital would provide opportunities for future expansion of healthcare
services at the site.
The Cook Government has also reviewed
redevelopments planned for the Royal Perth Hospital emergency department and
Peel Health Campus. This review, which included an analysis of the location,
timeframe for delivery and scope, was undertaken following the shifting of
hospital building responsibilities to the new Office of Major Infrastructure
Delivery (OMID) after the State Election in March.
As a result of the review, a new site has been
selected for stage one of the Royal Perth Hospital redevelopment which incorporates
the expansion of the emergency department. The new site, at S block delivers a
number of benefits compared to the original project, including:
- no disruption to current emergency department
operations during the new build;
- more emergency hospital beds;
- dedicated mental health services;
and
- improved ambulance access, more
short-term parking, and better connection to public transport.
Importantly, the emergency department block will
be built as part of a new six storey block, with two floors dedicated to a new emergency
department.
The extra floors will create space for
additional beds and flexibility now, and for future stages of the redevelopment
of the Royal Perth Hospital site.
The State Government has allocated $33 million
to detailed planning for the project. Construction will commence in 2026.
For Mandurah and the Peel Region, a new
hospital will replace Peel Health Campus.
Following a site analysis and deliverability
assessment by the OMID, a greenfields approach was recommended. Instead of the
originally scoped redevelopment of the existing Peel Health Campus facilities,
a brand-new hospital will be built on a greenfields site next to the existing
location.
It will allow the new hospital to be built
faster, with less disruption to hospital services, and will enable the vacated
facilities to be potentially transformed into additional health services in the
future, such as aged care accommodation, at the end of the build.
Construction of the new six-storey Peel Health
Campus will commence in 2026, to include:
- modernisation of the current hospital to meet
contemporary standards and increase capacity;
- an expanded 39-bay emergency department;
- a dedicated mental health emergency centre;
- new facilities for cancer treatment;
- a dedicated mental health inpatient unit;
- a dedicated palliative care unit;
- additional inpatient beds, including a new high dependency
unit;
- new operating theatre complex; and
- expanded public outpatient services following
the transition of the hospital from private to public operation in August 2024.
$37.7 million has been allocated to undertake
the detailed planning of the new health campus.
The new $1.5 billion Building Hospitals Fund is
comprised of $500 million announced in September and an additional injection of
$1 billion.
The Building Hospitals Fund brings the Cook
Government's total health infrastructure commitment to $4.7 billion during this
term of government - the largest hospital building program in the State's
history.
Construction is underway on the $1.8 billion
Women and Babies Hospital at Murdoch and the $471.5 million Bunbury Health
Campus.
Comments attributed to Premier Roger Cook:
"This is a historic day for healthcare in
Western Australia.
"Delivering new hospital capacity is a key part
of ensuring all Western Australians can access the healthcare they need, when they
need it, and my government is getting on with the job.
"Bringing St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital
into public hands and delivering rescoped redevelopments at Royal Perth
Hospital and the Peel Health Campus will significantly expand the capacity of
our public system.
"These are exciting projects, that are building
upon the Women and Babies Hospital and Bunbury Health Campus - projects that
are already underway and set to transform our public hospital system."
Comments attributed to Deputy Premier and
Treasurer Rita Saffioti:
"Our government's strong financial management
enables us to deliver the infrastructure and services our community needs.
"We're building a new
Women and Babies Hospital in Murdoch, negotiating to buy a hospital in Mount
Lawley, and are upgrading hospitals across our suburbs and regions.
"Our government is doing everything we can to
deliver new hospital capacity, and the creation of the $1.5 billion Building
Hospitals Fund will enable us to deliver more exciting new projects for our
public hospital system.
"These projects will transform our public
system and demonstrate our government's ongoing commitment to the health of all
Western Australians."
Comments attributed to Health Minister Meredith
Hammat:
"This is an exciting
day for Western Australia, with these three major projects set to transform our
public health system.
"If negotiations with St
John of God Health Care are successful, we are ready to take on this new site
and make it fully available for public use for the first time.
"We'll work
collaboratively with St John of God Health Care, keeping the needs of
hardworking existing staff front-of-mind during the transition."
Comments attributed to Health Infrastructure
Minister John Carey:
"As WA's first Health Infrastructure Minister,
I have taken a fresh look at how we can improve and accelerate the delivery of
major hospital projects.
"The Office of Major Infrastructure Delivery
has rapidly reviewed complex builds including at Peel Health Campus and Royal
Perth Hospital.
"Rescoped projects at both hospitals will
deliver new facilities that will serve the public health system for decades to
come, while limiting disruption during construction.
"In addition, bringing St John of God Mt Lawley
Hospital into public hands will add new beds to the public system quicker than
we can build them."
