A vascular surgeon behind a proposal to build a 150-bed private hospital on west Crown St, Wollongong, says the development would help transform the western end of the city into a highly efficient "medical precinct", with services comparable to Sydney.
Dr Arthur Stanton yesterday outlined his vision for the hospital, worth more than $100 million, now being considered by the Department of Planning.
He intends it to offer open-heart surgery and other procedures not now available in the region.
Its position a short distance from Wollongong Hospital would help attract doctors to the region and boost capacity in the public system, he said.
"Having private and public patients close together starts to create a medical precinct," Dr Stanton said.
"It enables the synergisms of both hospitals to work together.
"That's not only structural things - medical units and equipment - but also people. When you use your people properly between the public and private hospital ... you get the most advantage.
"If you really want to move forward and attract doctors to the area, you do it by having both a private and a public facility."
Dr Stanton said the development would ease pressure on Wollongong Hospital's elective surgery waiting lists, and on its emergency department.
Cautioning it was early days, Dr Stanton confirmed the proposal had attracted attention from a party interested in setting up a 24-hour general practice on-site, which could further ease demand on Wollongong casualty.
The site for the development is almost opposite the Caltex service station a short distance west of Wollongong Hospital.
The brown-brick building was home to children with disabilities until 10 years ago. In 2006 it was sold to the consortium Aa Crown Holdings for $4 million.
Dr Stanton is a consortium director, together with Fairy Meadow-based colorectal surgeon Andrew Malouf.
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