Hospital upgrades—Albany Health Campus—Meekatharra Health Centre
Brief ministerial statement
Mr John Carey (Perth—Minister for Health Infrastructure) (9:16 am): I rise to update the house on the progression of the Albany Health Campus and Meekatharra Health Centre upgrades. The Cook Labor government is delivering the largest program of health infrastructure investment Western Australia has ever seen. We are investing more than $4.7 billion in new and upgraded health facilities and we have already delivered more than 900 new hospital beds, with hundreds more in the pipeline. This record investment is focused on one outcome: to accelerate the delivery of modern hospital capacity across Western Australia so that more people can access high quality care when and where they need it.
As part of this plan, upgrades are now moving forward for Meekatharra Hospital and Albany Health Campus. Requests for proposals are open for a single contractor to design both projects under an early-contractor-involvement model. Bundling these projects creates a larger and more efficient package of works, enabling us to be agile in our delivery and drive innovation, particularly through a modular-build approach that allows early works to begin while final designs are still being completed. This approach will deliver a suite of standardised modular designs to help accelerate future projects, especially in rural and remote WA. The Meekatharra Hospital redevelopment will deliver upgraded emergency services, modern inpatient facilities, improved patient support areas and upgraded information and communications technology systems. Albany Health Campus will receive a 32-bed modular ward, boosting capacity for the region and building on our delivery of a redeveloped car park on the site.
This is yet another example of our government thinking outside the box to deliver hospital infrastructure. Bringing contractors into the planning stage encourages fresh ideas, practical solutions and more efficient delivery. These are smart, future-focused investments that will ensure that Western Australians, whether in the city or the regions, can access the care they need in a modern, well-resourced health system.
