$50m addition to QEH upgrade prompts 12-month delay
Long-awaited redevelopment works at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital will be delayed by another year to accommodate a further $50 million in new facilities that the Marshall Government insists will “future proof” the upgrade.
Health Minister Stephen Wade said today the scope of the build had been broadened after a clinical services planning review, with its budget now revised up from $264 million to $314 million.
That will include an Emergency Department expansion, including 46 new treatment bays, 12 operating theatres and a day surgery suite, a 14-bed Intensive Care Unit, a central sterile supply department and a 52-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility.
An impression of the proposed changes, provided by the Government and designed by Cheesman Architects.
However, the already-delayed timeline for construction will be pushed out at least a further 12 months.
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“Preparatory works have been underway for some months now, and a lot of the work has been in relation to clinical services planning,” Wade said.
“We could have pushed along with a project that had not been properly planned, but that would have meant we could only deliver what the QEH will need for today… a major focus of the planning work has been to make sure this hospital will be future-proofed for whatever the future brings.”
He said the new project included “significant enhancements” on the original plan.
“Construction works will be delayed by a year but we’re very confident that we’ll have a much better project,” he said.
