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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-11-27 Daily Xml
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New Women's and Children's Hospital

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister update the house on the progress of the new Women's and Children's Hospital?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:57): I thank the member for Newland for her question and note her significant interest in terms of making sure that we improve the healthcare infrastructure for women and children in this state. As members will no doubt know, this has been a project which has been talked about for a very long period of time, since it was first announced back in 2013, so 11 years ago, and we are actually now getting on with the job.

Since we came to office, we had a good look at this project. We got a review done of this project, which identified that the site that was originally being looked at was simply too small to be able to deliver it and also it would significantly impact in terms of the future provision of expansion of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Also, the previous plans that were in place were only going to have one extra overnight bed in the brand-new hospital, which we regarded as insufficient.

We made this decision to move the hospital to the new site, the barracks site, and work has been significantly underway in terms of the demolition and early works on that site. The Premier and I were able to visit that site the other day and see that work underway. On the barracks site, on the former SAPOL site, some 42 buildings have now been demolished. There are four significant buildings that remain, which will be coming down in coming months. There have also been substantial works where the car park will be going, adjacent to the site. Some 60,000 tonnes of bulk earthwork material have been exported, 18,000 tonnes of material imported for the piling. The piling installation was completed last Friday and the piling rig has been demobilised from the site. That work is substantial in terms of that site. On the barracks site, seven machines are being used to complete the demolition of those 42 buildings. There have been 2,100 tonnes of waste during the demolition stage, 98 per cent of which has been recycled.

We were able to announce the other day the next stage of works now, which is a $427 million package of works for the next stages of work, which will be going to the Public Works Committee next Monday as well. This includes critical underground services, cabling works, all the telecommunications, SA Water, SA Power Networks works, as well as substantial transport work that will be undertaken with the Department for Infrastructure and Transport on Port Road to allow for lane widening and additional lanes on that road, as well as the entry and exit from the hospital site.

I want to thank everybody involved in the project for the substantial work that's already happened there. Critically, this is about making sure that we've got a hospital that can meet the needs of the long term, a hospital which is going to have additional beds—some 56 additional beds with a capacity for 20 more compared to the original plan, which was one extra overnight bed in the hospital—and a range of additional services, such as four ICU women's beds on site, a helipad on site and pathology services on site as well.

Of course, we will then open it up into the Parklands. It will be essentially a hospital in the park and it will give the ability for future expansion on that site and also, critically important as well, critical expansion capacity for the Royal Adelaide Hospital, which we know at some stage in the future will have to expand. If we took up that expansion space for the Royal Adelaide Hospital, then future generations would be looking back at us making a bad decision.

This is a big decision that has been made, looking to the future. We can see that progress going on at the site now. There will be cranes that will be erected within the next few months to start that big construction work with the car park that will be underway. They will be highly visible and we are getting on with the job.

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