Biggest regional hospital opens in Albany

The biggest hospital ever built in regional WA was officially opened last Friday in Albany after a two-and-a-half year construction period.

However, the new Albany Health Campus, labelled a “trailblazer” by Premier Colin Barnett, is not quite operational, with the emergency department still to begin functioning.

Health Minister and former GP Kim Hames said opening the $170 million Albany Health Campus was like “delivering a baby”.

“There is no better hospital in Western Australia than this one, this will compete with Fiona Stanley Hospital,” he said.

The new Albany facility has the capacity to service up to 60,000 people a year and has 134 inpatient beds and same-day chairs, up from 117 in the old hospital.

The hospital includes a bigger and improved emergency department, more mental health beds, expanded renal dialysis capability, expanded cancer services, a new surgical centre and upgraded obstetric and birthing suites.

It also features a cutting-edge patient entertainment system which doubles as a medical computer network. Dr Hames said the new hospital had already attracted, and would continue to attract, skilled medical specialists to live and work in Albany.

“The new Albany Health Campus has proved an attractive opportunity for doctors who want to work in a state-of-the-art facility in a regional location,” he said.

“Doctors have already been recruited to new positions in the Great Southern and this has included a significant number of medical specialists, GPs and junior doctors who have been working at Albany Hospital and will be based at the new health campus.”

The increase in doctors is a marked improvement on the old hospital which, as recently as three years ago, did not have a 24-hour doctor presence in the emergency department.

Hospital services are being transitioned to the new facility, with pharmacy and all allied health services due to be opened tomorrow.

Community mental health services are already open, while the emergency department is expected to begin operating on or after Wednesday, May 15.

A health department spokesman said the community would be advised when the casualty department was set to open.

The hospital is expected to reduce the number of patients required to travel to Perth for treatment.