Eagle-eyed Shellharbour residents may have spotted excavation work at the Dunmore site earmarked for the $700 million Shellharbour Hospital, prompting questions about whether construction of the new hospital is about to get underway.
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According to NSW Health Infrastructure the government is yet to officially buy the site, but it is expected that the acquisition will be complete in the coming months.
"The project is on track and due diligence is ongoing, which includes negotiations with the landowners for the purchase of the preferred Dunmore Road site," a Health Infrastructure spokesperson said.
Wollongong MP Paul Scully has been pushing for the government to announce a start date for the new hospital, as he says a clear timeline is needed to make sure the region's existing hospitals can cope in the coming years.
"The government should be clearer with everyone on the expected timeline, so they can work on what has to be done in the immediate term to take some of those pressures off Wollongong and Shellharbour hospitals, particularly in the emergency department," he said.
Previously, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said Shellharbour hospital would be completed by 2027 if work begins this year.
In the meantime, there are a number of other major changes to the Illawarra's health infrastructure in motion, with Port Kembla Hospital getting ready to close down once the new infrastructure is in place.
District health chief Margot Mains said the old hospital had "provided a wonderful service to the community".
"It is a sad reality that all health buildings age and reach a point where they need a rebuild or modernisation work," she said.
"Port Kembla Hospital was officially opened in 1965 and is coming to the end of its useful life."
"Hospital design has advanced greatly since Port Kembla was opened in 1965, including the design of patient wards, the use of technology, work health and safety considerations and functionality. Our health facilities need to reflect contemporary ways of working and the relocation provides an opportunity to address this."
Ms Mains said most of the clinical staff at Port Kembla hospital would be relocated to "modern and fit-for-purpose clinical facilities".
"Decanting and relocating services from a hospital is a complex process and therefore will be undertaken in a staged approach in consultation with the staff and the community," she said.
The new facilities include a reconfiguration of Bulli Hospital, refurbishment of a number of services at Wollongong Hospital and the building of a new community health centre at Warrawong.
"In addition, a new ambulance station in Fairy Meadow will be delivered under the $232 million Rural Ambulance Infrastructure Reconfiguration (RAIR) program providing a new Ambulance service for the local community," , the Health Infrastructure spokesperson said.
"The site selection process is underway and delivery timeframes will be determined once the location has been identified and planning has further progressed."
Ms Mains said the IRT building at Bulli had been purchased and was being used for the management of COVID patients and other at risk older patients.
"Staff have been consulted on the required design changes ensuring a state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility so that inpatient rehabilitative and palliative care services from Port Kembla Hospital can be re-located to Bulli," she said.
"The building contract has been let and it is anticipated the building work will commence in the coming months."
The exisiting Shellharbour Hospital, which Shellharbour council has flagged as a possible new housing site, will continue its operations until the new hospital at Dunmore is complete.
"There is no decision yet regarding the future of the current Shellharbour site," Ms Mains said.
"This will be determined once the new build is completed and all services have transferred to the New Shellharbour Hospital at Dunmore."