$50m addition to QEH upgrade prompts 12-month delay
Long-awaited redevelopment works at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital will be delayed by another year to accommodate a further $50 million in new facilities that the Marshall Government insists will “future proof” the upgrade.
An impression of the proposed changes, provided by the Government and designed by Cheesman Architects.
Health Minister Stephen Wade said today the scope of the build had been broadened after a clinical services planning review, with its budget now revised up from $264 million to $314 million.
That will include an Emergency Department expansion, including 46 new treatment bays, 12 operating theatres and a day surgery suite, a 14-bed Intensive Care Unit, a central sterile supply department and a 52-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility.
An impression of the proposed changes, provided by the Government and designed by Cheesman Architects.
However, the already-delayed timeline for construction will be pushed out at least a further 12 months.
“Preparatory works have been underway for some months now, and a lot of the work has been in relation to clinical services planning,” Wade said.
“We could have pushed along with a project that had not been properly planned, but that would have meant we could only deliver what the QEH will need for today… a major focus of the planning work has been to make sure this hospital will be future-proofed for whatever the future brings.”
He said the new project included “significant enhancements” on the original plan.
“Construction works will be delayed by a year but we’re very confident that we’ll have a much better project,” he said.