MAJOR works at the Port Macquarie Base Hospital expansion project have been given the green light, with the project being given final approval by NSW Planning and Infrastructure, Member for Port Macquarie, Leslie Williams announced on Monday.
“The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is committed to ensuring health services in this State meet the needs of our growing regional communities. This is great news for our local community. Construction works on the $110 million State and Federal Government-funded expansion project are due to begin by the end of this year and tenders are set to be called shortly,” Mrs Williams said.
“The expansion will provide an extra 70 overnight acute in-patient beds, a larger emergency department, reconfigured and expanded operating theatres, new critical care unit and a cardiac catheterisation laboratory.
“The upgrade of Port Macquarie Base Hospital will provide both the local community and the Hastings-Macleay Clinical Network with an expanded range of quality health services,” Mrs Williams said.
“The hospital expansion project will go a long way to supporting projected growth in both population and the need for aged care in the Hastings-Macleay district.
“Obtaining final approval means the expansion project will see the tenders being issued in August and the main construction works commencing later this year.
“The approval enables the bulk earth works and piling for the new buildings to start and it is great to see that this phase of project is due to commence well ahead of schedule,” Mrs Williams said.
The expansion project will involve construction of a new three-storey building at the western end of the site adding approximately 12,000 m² of floor space to the existing hospital footprint (which is currently 18,000m²).