RHH: Libs catch the vision …

Will Hodgman, Brett Whiteley, Sept 12, MR

He said there were plenty of examples around the world of total rebuilds on existing hospital sites, including closer to home at Sydney’s Royal North Shore hospital – a hospital of similar size and lay-out to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Will Hodgman MP
Leader of the State Opposition

Brett Whiteley MP
Shadow Minister for Health and Human Services

Friday September 12, 2008

State Liberal’s vision for a new Royal Hobart Hospital

The State Opposition has today demanded the State Government ensure that its business case for a new hospital is not restricted in its scope of alternatives to the unsuitable railyards site.

Leader of the State Opposition, Will Hodgman, said while the Opposition believed there could be potential to completely rebuild – not just redevelop – facilities in the existing hospital precinct, not enough time and effort had gone into investigating all available options.

Mr Hodgman said the Business Case was restricted to only assessing the railyards hospital or a partial redevelopment on the existing site.

“It would appear other options are not receiving appropriate consideration and that is a poor way to manage a $1 billion project,” Mr Hodgman said.

“Possible options that should be investigated thoroughly are –

· demolishing and rebuilding parts of the hospital

· maximising capacity on the existing site by delivering satellite services out of the CBD (such as outpatient services, day surgery, allied health services)

· moving non-essential hospital functions to adjacent CBD areas

Shadow Minister for Heath and Human Services, Mr Whiteley, said the 2002 Strategic Asset Management Plan for the Royal stated that in terms of ultimate development, the site could potentially provide over 140,000 square metres of accommodation, and the site has “more than sufficient capacity to accommodate RHH’s functional requirements for the foreseeable future”.

He said there were plenty of examples around the world of total rebuilds on existing hospital sites, including closer to home at Sydney’s Royal North Shore hospital – a hospital of similar size and lay-out to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

“The current $702 million redevelopment of the Royal North Shore consolidated 53 buildings into two purpose-built facilities for the 21st century, and allows services to be maintained throughout construction.

“The redevelopment is expected to take four years and will demolish small, outdated buildings to clear a footprint for new hospital facilities.

“We should be looking at the new RHH project in an innovative way that ensures we get the best outcome for taxpayers and future generations of Tasmanians,” Mr Whiteley said

Mr Hodgman and Mr Whiteley said there were alternatives to a new hospital on the railyards and that it was imperative all alternatives are included in the business case to go before Cabinet.”