20 January 2012

Potential sites for the new hospital

| johnboy
Join the conversation
19

ACT Health has announced a consultation on their site selection report for a new sub-acute hospital in Canberra’s North.

And the options are:

i. Calvary campus and the adjacent block;

ii. Gungahlin Town Centre: Territory land at the town centre would require a technical variation to the Territory Plan;

iii. University of Canberra: this is already zoned for a Community Facility and a Territory Plan variation would not be required. However, arrangements would need to be negotiated with the University for them to provide the land to the Territory; and

iv. Nicholls (block 12 section 78), Gungahlin: Territory land at the corner of Gungahlin Drive and Kellaway Avenue is already a zoned community facility and could be used immediately (subject to development application approval)

The consultation closes on 2 March 2012.

UPDATE: Katy Gallagher’s media release is now available and fingers UC as the preferred site:

When assessed against the selection criteria, the University of Canberra has been identified as the best site for a new hospital. The main benefits of UC include the available land, the proximity of the site to Calvary Hospital, and the collocation with the Faculty of Health (Nursing and Allied Health) which could assist the ACT with training and recruitment of our workforce and provide opportunities for collaboration and research.

Join the conversation

19
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

miz said :

I am starting to wonder whether the govt is trying to fulfill its previous agenda of removing the Sisters/Rome out of its public hospitals via a more stealthy, back-door, let’s out-compete them strategy?

Yes, they’ve wasted much time and money pursuing their ideological vendetta against them it seems unlikely they would have given up.

17 self-aggrandising clowns in the ACT Government versus a powerful, global, 1,000-year-old religious mafia?
Who are they kidding!?
Stop wasting our money and get on with being an effective town council!

charliemack said :

KB1971 said :

We had a third hospital but we blew it up……..

+1 😀

You can thank Kate Carnell for that nice bit of political short-sightedness.

KB1971 said :

We had a third hospital but we blew it up……..

+1 😀

I don’t see the fuss about the location being UC. I know the Gungahlinites want it up north, but this facility doesn’t replace Calvary or Canberra Hospitals. It helps free up beds in those facilities for emergencies and acute care. I’d say the same thing about locating it in Tuggers. The whole business of it being in Gungahlin so workers can walk/cycle to work is ridiculous. Very few people in Tuggeranong get to do that as well and its been around longer.

For once the government actually seems to have picked the best location for something!

We had a third hospital but we blew it up……..

It does seem weird to want to build a hospital just across the road from – er – a hospital.
It is also galling that Tuggers gets overlooked – again.

I am starting to wonder whether the govt is trying to fulfill its previous agenda of removing the Sisters/Rome out of its public hospitals via a more stealthy, back-door, let’s out-compete them strategy?

gooterz said :

Why not just build a new hospital on the south side, located on the endless land behind the centrelink building.
Who knows.. perhaps even the people in cooma might visit!
Building anything anywhere else is a slap in the face to tuggeranong

Because (a) Woden hospital is already south side; and
(b) no one cares about tuggeranong.

Really though, UC does look like a pretty good location to me. It is near good access from all directions due to Ginnenderra Dr and the GD(E).

Why not just build a new hospital on the south side, located on the endless land behind the centrelink building.
Who knows.. perhaps even the people in cooma might visit!
Building anything anywhere else is a slap in the face to tuggeranong

andym said :

UC a place already known for its lack of parking is the best place to put a hospital?
I would think somewhere where it has room to grow rather then shoe horned in somewhere might be the go.

On the map in the report, they have it in the big empty area off Ginninderra Drive, near Aikman. Hard luck on the kangaroos and cattle currently there of course, but nowhere near the current parking areas. (Hopefully the parking situation will improve when all the faux park-n-ride commuters are locked out of the College St carparks.)

sb14 said :

Why have 2 of our 3 public hospitals withing walking distance of each other?

As a sub-acute care hospital, they want to be able to quickly ship anyone really crook off to one of the other hospitals. It would be a long walk, though, I think it’s about 10-15 min ride on a bike.

I’m hoping that this hospital will be like Scrubs, but with the students having internal monologues in an Australian accent.

Gungahlin Al4:18 pm 20 Jan 12

If the UC site fronts Ginninderra Drv, then how can this be classed as convenient to public transport? All bus routes go up College St – a very long way from the site. So every Belco bus route would have to be rerouted? Remember this is sub-acute. Many of the patients and their visitors will be dependent on PT and not capable of long walks across a campus.

sb14 said :

I agree with Katy’s last point (colocation, research and training) but not her first in regards to UOC’sproximity to Calvary being and advantage. Why have 2 of our 3 public hospitals withing walking distance of each other?

Because the new thing they’re proposing is sub-acute care. If there was an emergency, being close to acute care and emergency care would be very beneficial to stopping the emergency from dying.

Shouldn’t the headline be “sites for a potential hospital”? I mean, get real, it is an election year you know; nothing is really going to happen.

andym said :

UC a place already known for its lack of parking is the best place to put a hospital?
I would think somewhere where it has room to grow rather then shoe horned in somewhere might be the go.

Stephen Parker’s (UC VC) Press release:

20 January 2012
University of Canberra ‘preferred site’ for new hospital
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Parker today welcomed the news the University had been named preferred site for a new sub-acute hospital in Canberra’s north.

Professor Parker said should the hospital be built at the University it would provide unique opportunities to add layers of learning and research to the hospital’s work, which would help alleviate the skills shortage in the health workforce and improve patient care by developing innovative treatments and practices.

The proposed site for the hospital is the currently undeveloped northwest corner of the University campus alongside Ginninderra Drive and Aikman Drive. Aerial photographs with the area marked are available on request.

Professor Parker said: “Locating the new sub-acute facility at the University of Canberra provides the opportunity to create an innovative learning hospital with a focus on building a healthier local community, rather than a traditional teaching hospital with a focus on treating acute illness.

“This learning hospital would not only provide patient focused care delivered by multi-disciplinary teams, but also provide services and advice to people with chronic disease or disability living in their own homes. Emerging developments in e-health and tele-health service delivery will be integral elements in this new system of care. The new hospital would become a centre for research in these areas.

“If the University of Canberra is eventually chosen as the home for the new hospital – and I believe the case for this is convincing – we look forward to this new avenue for Canberra’s university to serve the community.”

Professor Parker added the University already had a proven track record of delivering health services to the community through student-led clinics in its Faculty of Health, its new mobile health clinic on the NSW South Coast, headspace ACT and the on-campus health and counseling service.

“The University of Canberra is proud of the vital contribution it makes to a healthy capital,” Professor Parker said.

“We train a significant proportion of the region’s health workforce, our researchers are addressing important global health issues in areas including physiotherapy, pharmacy, nursing and new treatments for disease and we have a growing role in delivering health services.

“An on campus hospital would add an exciting new dimension to this, which would benefit the entire community.”

Health is a growing area at the University with its Faculty of Health on track to achieve significant growth targets – from 1750 equivalent full-time students (EFTSL) in 2011 to approximately 2400 in 2014.

· Professor Parker is available for interview

· Print quality aerial photographs of the site are available on request

qbninthecity3:25 pm 20 Jan 12

iv. Nicholls (block 12 section 78), Gungahlin: Territory land at the corner of Gungahlin Drive and Kellaway Avenue is already a zoned community facility and could be used immediately (subject to development application approval)

Hmm looks like somebody needs to learn how to spell street names, its KellEway Ave

andym said :

UC a place already known for its lack of parking is the best place to put a hospital?
I would think somewhere where it has room to grow rather then shoe horned in somewhere might be the go.

Well, there’s actually s#&tloads of empty land at UC, and remember that the first thing they would build at the new health facility would be a 10 storey car park! 😉

UC a place already known for its lack of parking is the best place to put a hospital?
I would think somewhere where it has room to grow rather then shoe horned in somewhere might be the go.

Gungahlin Al1:05 pm 20 Jan 12

Comments like this in the ABC News article don’t point to there being much stock in the ‘consultation period’:

“Ms Gallagher says work is now underway on the design of the hospital, financing options, and environmental analysis.”

She, UC and I are being interviewed on ABC after 5 so will be interesting to hear what she has to say…

You’d think the university would jump at the chance. Educate students right next door. Huge opportunity for students to do prac and stay on as staff on completion of degrees, having quality people remain in Canberra.

This would have to be a win win win solution.

I agree with Katy’s last point (colocation, research and training) but not her first in regards to UOC’sproximity to Calvary being and advantage. Why have 2 of our 3 public hospitals withing walking distance of each other?

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.