The first of seven slabs were laid on Monday, which will eventually make up the outpatient clinic of the $470 million facility.

Liberal Party MLC Taylor Martin said the new hospital design planned for future expansion to meet the growing demand in the Hunter region.

In news today: Restorative works continue on Maitland Town Hall clock tower

"It's a momentous day for Maitland," he said.

"We will be having a new larger hospital with more beds and more services for one of the fastest growing regions in NSW.

"There have been plenty of hospital builds across NSW recently, and they are all built with the future in mind."

The $470 million new hospital will offer a wide range of services including emergency care, chemotherapy chairs, critical care, maternity services, paediatric care, mental health, rehabilitation services, palliative care and outpatient clinics.

"This earmarks one of our largest ground floor slabs," Health Infrastructure senior project director Gavin Thompson said.

"From here, construction will continue from this slab to the roof.

"By the end of the year, the building will be fully formed with even some of the external facade and brickwork starting to appear."

"We, as a project team, in collaboration with Multiplex ... have been doing a lot of consultation with the community.

"The level of excitement from the community has been amazing. They are starting to see the level of opportunity it will bring."

Last week, Multiplex officially opened its Connectivity Centre which will help local job seekers find employment on the construction site.

"Multiplex, with their local trades, have about 85 to 90 per cent of local buy-in from the community which is an incredible outcome from this project," Mr Thompson said.

"These are complex buildings so there are a lot of different skill sets that we need from the market ... [and] that helps share the training and experiences."

The long-awaited New Maitland Hospital is anticipated to be operational by early 2022.

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