More details about the new Maitland Hospital emerged this week as the state government released another document about the facility. It comes after the Environmental Impact Statement was released last week – and $23.5 million was allocated in the NSW Budget. With construction set to begin in the 2018-19 financial year, we spoke to Hunter New England Health Chief Executive Michael DiRienzo to find out more about what the facility will offer.
BELINDA-JANE DAVIS reports.
Within three years Lower Hunter residents will just about be setting foot in the new Maitland Hospital.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And the team behind the project is confident it will deliver a facility that will cater for health needs well into the future.
Hunter New England Health Chief Executive Michael DiRienzo, who is leading the team, said it was an exciting project that would deliver a high-standard of care and the latest models of medicine.
“We’re full steam ahead and we would hope that we would start to see some serious work being undertaken [at the Metford Road site] before the end of this calendar year,” he said.
“We’re very confident that we can get going very quickly and have a new hospital for that community in early 2022, which at the end of the day is a great result.”
So what can we expect to find in the new facility?
Bed numbers
There are almost twice the number of beds in the new hospital. The current hospital has 196 beds and the new hospital will have 339.
So how has the team determined the number of beds?
“Bed numbers are predominantly based on the population projections, and based on some of the new models of care that will be introduced, and the role that it will play as a rural referral hospital for the Hunter Valley,” Mr DiRienzo said.
“When we calculated those bed numbers we also had a mind on the future. At the end of the day the bed numbers are for a hospital that will be able to provide services safely and at a high quality level in 2026-27 and beyond.”
How will the beds be rolled out?
“This hospital has been planned for the future. We will have the beds available but … if you take the 297 overnight beds for an example, I don’t believe we will have 297 patients on the first night the hospital is open. Over time we will have that capacity. You can see the significant step up in beds which gives us the ability to go beyond 2026.”
Extra staff
All of the staff at the existing hospital will be transferred to the new facility.
Mr DiRienzo said some additional positions would be needed.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea of what will be required on day one. We will have the majority of the staff available,” he said.
What about beyond the first year?
“We’ve projected out to determine what resources will be needed up until 2026-27 as a starting point.”
The recruitment for additional positions will commence 12 months before the job begins.
Emergency department
Mr DiRienzo said the department would have enough room to accommodate children in their own area.
That isn’t possible at the current hospital due to the constraints of the building.
Patients will also be able to use an Emergency Short Stay Unit where they will receive final monitoring and observation before being admitted or discharged.
“Clearly by the time we build this hospital I think they are going to need the extra treatment spaces. It will give us the opportunity for us to probably have kids in a separate area of the overall ED. Ultimately it will result in a better patient experience.”
Accident procedure
The new hospital won’t have the same trauma level as John Hunter Hospital, but it will be able to play a role after an accident.
Mr DiRienzo said doubling the number of resuscitation bays from 2 to 4 also hinted at the role the hospital could play in the future.
“Trauma with a car accident of a work injury would still go to John Hunter … If something happened that required Maitland to play a role it would play a role, it would depend on the severity of the number of people injured.”
Chemotherapy
Twelve chemotherapy chairs have been included in the new design. This is the first time the service will be offered in Maitland.
It is expected to be on par with the services at the Calvary Mater in Newcastle.
“The Hunter has one of the largest incidences of cancer, unfortunately, and while we’ve got our Calvary Mater Hospital that provides the bulk of cancer services our ongoing strategy is to do our very best at having ongoing cancer services closer to home,” he said.
Mr DiRienzo said the cancer network would determine the full range of services.
“Given the proximity of the new Maitland Hospital to the network based at Calvary Mater we would be looking for some form of capability like the Calvary Mater, but we will have to leave that up to our oncologists and hematologists.”
Rehabilitation
Fifty rehabilitation beds will be available between the new hospital and Kurri Kurri District Hospital.
Twenty-six beds were previously moved from Maitland to Kurri Kurri to create more room at the hospital.
“The rehabilitation unit will remain in Kurri with 26 beds and there will be 20 overnight beds and 4 day beds at the new Maitland hospital,” he said.
“That will take the number from 26 to 50. We will then be able to do rehabilitation across a range of different conditions, like if they are orthopedic rehabilitation or rehabilitation after a stroke and so on.”
Specialist centre?
The new hospital will be on a portion of the land, which will open the door for partners to come on board.
Mr DiRienzo has not ruled out the possibility of a specialist centre on the site.
“It’s a large site and there may be opportunities for other organisations, not for profits, people in the health environment to utilise that space. We’re only utilising a portion of it. If there is a connection and it’s in the best interest of our community we would encourage partners to come on board.”
