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Joint venture: St John of God Health Care and leading surgeons unite to bring orthopaedic centres of excellence to Perth

Twenty four of Perth’s most respected orthopaedic surgeons have joined forces with St John of God Health Care to build a WA-first specialist orthopaedic hospital, on the St John of God Murdoch Hospital campus.

11 Dec 2023

A computer generated render of the entrance to the new Orthonova building. A plant lined awning covers a walkway leading to the front doors with people sitting at yellow tables and chairs along the side of the walkway.
Artist's impression of the Orthonova Orthopaedic Hospital entrance

The innovative joint venture, Orthonova Orthopaedic Hospital, is the first of its kind in Western Australia, whereby a private hospital operator and a group of surgeons will collaborate to develop and operate the hospital.

The hospital will be a world class centre of excellence for orthopaedics featuring the latest in robotic joint replacement surgery and leading technology in sports surgery.

The hospital will service growing demand in Perth’s southern corridor for orthopaedic surgery.

St John of God Murdoch Hospital CEO Ben Irish said the Orthonova Orthopaedic Hospital’s bespoke design had been driven by the joint venture’s strong desire to provide patients with exceptional clinical care and comfort, beyond what is typically expected for a surgical patient.

“The great advantage of this collaboration is that we have some of the world’s leading orthopaedic surgeons lending their clinical expertise and insights to create a hospital specialising in these procedures, with evidence-based patient care at the centre of all design decisions,” Mr Irish said.

Key to the hospital design has been creating efficient pathways between the hospital’s day of surgery suites, four operating theatres, recovery areas and 40-bed inpatient ward, all of which are absolutely focussed on orthopaedic care.

An aerial view of the proposed Orthonova building, showing a render of the building on an intersection of two main roads.
Architectural render of Orthonova Orthopaedic Hospital

Orthopaedic surgeon and member of the joint venture’s surgeon group, Mr Graham Forward said the hospital, which will initially have 24 of Perth’s leading orthopaedic surgeons operating out of it, would become a centre of excellence for clinical care and research.

“Word travels fast within the orthopaedic industry, and our hospital’s custom design and cutting edge theatres are already attracting plenty of interest from colleagues, locally and internationally,” Mr Forward said.

St John of God Health Care CEO Bryan Pyne said the positive response within the orthopaedic community and the anticipated growth in demand for orthopaedic services meant that planning for a second facility in Perth’s north was already well underway.

“Our focus on excellence in clinical safety and outcomes, positions us well to expand this offering to patients north of the river,” Mr Pyne said.

St John of God Murdoch Hospital CEO Ben Irish, St John of God Health Care CEO Bryan Pyne and St John of God Health Care COO Ben Edwards standing outside St John of God Murdoch Hospital.
St John of God Murdoch Hospital CEO Ben Irish, St John of God Health Care CEO Bryan Pyne and St John of God Health Care COO Ben Edwards

High-end, contemporary finishes will feature throughout the lobby, patient lounges and private suites, and fresh, healthy meals will be served to patients via on-demand room service – a service which has been immensely popular since its launch at St John of God Murdoch Hospital four years ago.

A linking corridor will connect the Orthonova Orthopaedic Hospital to St John of God Murdoch’s existing 510-bed hospital.

The building will be constructed in partnership between St John of God Health Care and Hesperia on the eastern side of the current St John of God Murdoch Hospital campus.

Hesperia Managing Director, Ben Lisle said the new hospital complemented the company’s significant medical and commercial development at neighbouring Murdoch Square, which was bringing the overall vision for the Murdoch Health and Knowledge Precinct to life.

“We firmly believe that collaboration between specialists in their fields brings the best results for everyone, and the combination of a national hospital operator, with specialist medical expertise and development experience, has resulted in an exciting health concept and vision that has not been delivered before in Western Australia.”

To stay up to date you can visit www.orthonova.com.au.