21/09/05
The State Government will spend $222million to relocate Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) from its Subiaco site to the Wellington Street Campus (North Block) of Royal Perth Hospital (RPH).
Health Minister Jim McGinty said the North Block would be totally redeveloped once Royal Perth Hospital’s clinical services were relocated to the Fiona Stanley Hospital in 2011.
The redevelopment of the North Block includes a new emergency department, a specialised paediatric intensive care unit, neonatal nursery and 10 refurbished operating theatres for paediatric surgery, double the number currently at PMH.
Mr McGinty said provision had also been made to assist with the relocation of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research from Subiaco to the RPH site.
“The relocation and redevelopment of Princess Margaret will ensure the future of one of Australia’s leading children’s hospitals,” he said.
“It will provide PMH staff a great opportunity to plan a top class kids hospital for Western Australia.
“The current buildings are outdated and there is little room to expand as our population increases and the need to upgrade our paediatric services grows.
“PMH also has well known problems with parking and access to public transport.”
The Minister said less than five per cent of patients and visitors used public transport to access PMH and about 200 more parking bays were needed to cope with demand.
“By comparison, the North Block site is a young building with ample parking facilities nearby and excellent access to public transport,” he said.
Mr McGinty said the additional funding to redevelop PMH was part of a total rebuild of the State’s health system.
“Our booming economy means we can invest an extra $890million to build new hospitals, upgrade existing hospitals and open an additional 800 beds,” he said.
“The Government has developed a 10-year health blueprint with a massive $3.6billion capital works program for hospitals right across the State.”
Minister's office: 9220 5000
