New Hospital Progresses

The most anticipated project in Cowra in living memory has reach an important milestone, with the appointment of the lead consultant team to work with Health Infrastructure on the $70.2 million new Cowra Hospital.

The lead consult team will feature Central West Project Management, DJRD Architects and Slattery Australia, which will oversee the project management, architecture and cost planning respectively.

Each company was required to tender for the project, and bring to the table crucial experience in health infrastructure that will hold the new hospital in great stead.

CWPM has previously managed the Mudgee Hospital Redevelopment and Rural Ambulance Infrastructure Reconfiguration (RAIR) Stage 1 program, DJRD Architects has previously delivered the Murrumburrah Multi-Purpose Health Service, and Slattery Australia has previously budgeted the Children’s Medical Research Institute expansion, Westmead, St Vincent’s Private Hospital Redevelopment and the North Shore Health Hub, St Leonards.

Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said the lead design team will commence with master planning, which involves creating a hospital campus master plan, which is then used to develop a concept design. “The appointment of the lead design team follows the Clinical Services Plan process over the past 18 months, for which I thank the community of Cowra once again for their input,” she said.

Combining information from the Clinical Services Plan, master plan and concept design will outline the redevelopment’s scope.

Cowra Health Services Manager Pauline Rowston said the full range of services delivered as part of the Cowra Hospital redevelopment will be identified through the planning phase, however all existing services provided would be retained.

“There’s been some reconfiguration of beds. Some areas have lost some while others have gained some, to reflect the current models of health practice,” she said.

Ms Cooke thanked the clinicians, nurses and health teams for their ongoing service in the current health facility, which she said is over sixty years old and has operational constraints.

“It is my expectation the project build will commence in early 2023, and I will continue to update the community of Cowra as the master-planning phase progresses,” she said.

“I will make sure that the health services provided to this community are not just retained, but enhanced by this redevelopment.”

Ms Cooke added the master planning process would also reveal whether the redevelopment is completed on the existing site or a new site.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the master planning process unfold so the community has certainty around where it will be built, what it will look like, and in the event of a new site, what happens to the existing site,” she said.

“There’s no doubt the existing site has challenges, particularly with the way that modern healthcare is delivered to communities.”

“These are mainly the age of the building, the size of the internal spaces, the access to the building, and the very fact that this site is located on such a steep gradient.”

“If $70 million isn’t enough, I will fight and fight for the extra funding.”

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