Bunbury redevelopment
St John of God Health Care breaks ground on $35.9M Bunbury
expansion
28 July 2011
Health care will soon be
closer to home for public and private patients in the south west as
WA-based St John of God Health Care begins work on a $35.9M
expansion of its Bunbury hospital.
The redevelopment, due for
completion by October 2012, includes a Comprehensive Cancer Centre,
a Coronary Care Unit and Angiography Suite, an expanded Renal
Dialysis Unit, and off campus accommodation for radiotherapy
patients.
It is co-funded by
Commonwealth and State Governments, and St John of God Health
Care.
St John of God Health Care’s Group Chief
Executive Officer, Dr Michael Stanford, said the expansion was a
prime example of the public and the private sector working in
partnership to ensure the best possible health outcomes for the
community.
“Patients in the south west will benefit from
access to high quality health services that would not otherwise
have been available. Both the Cancer Centre and Coronary Care Unit
are regional firsts for the State, being the only such specialist
centres in regional Western Australia,” Dr Stanford said.
As the State’s largest provider of regional
private hospitals, the redevelopment demonstrates St John of God
Health Care’s long standing commitment to regional health.
The not for profit health care provider is
committed to reinvesting in its facilities, equipment and the
communities it serves, with $325 million of its revenue invested in
redevelopments in the past decade, and a further $300 million set
to be invested over the next five years.
St John of God Hospital Bunbury’s Chief
Executive Officer, Mr Mark Grime, said the hospital was making a
significant contribution to improving health outcomes for residents
of the south west.
Mr Grime said: “In addition to caring for more
patients each year, we will be able to treat more seriously ill
patients, saving them and their families the stress of long and
often repeat journeys to Perth.
“In particular, our Cancer Centre will
complement Bunbury Regional Hospital’s recently opened South West
Radiation Oncology Centre, working together to meet a growing
community need, with cancer cases predicted to increase in line
with the region’s rapidly growing and ageing population,” he
said.
Overall, the increased capacity, technology,
and facilities will attract new and resident medical specialists to
regional Western Australia, as well as creating local jobs in
construction, nursing and other roles.
Other significant improvements currently
taking place at the South West Health Campus – where St John of God
Hospital is co-located with Bunbury Regional Hospital – include a
new intensive care unit and an expanded emergency department in the
public hospital.