30 March 2006

New Northern Beaches Hospital at Frenchs Forest

NSW Minister for Health John Hatzistergos today announced that Frenchs Forest will be the site for the new Northern Beaches Hospital.

Mr Hatzistergos said services at the new high level acute care hospital will include:

• Emergency department
• Intensive care unit
• Maternity services
• Paediatrics
• A range of medical and surgical services
• Enhanced diagnostic facilities

"This is great news for the people of the Northern Beaches", Mr Hatzistergos said.

"The NSW Government considered a number of sites for the new hospital, but after detailed assessment, the Frenchs Forest site was identified as the best place for a major metropolitan hospital," he said.

"The assessment considered many factors including accessibility, public amenity and room for expansion, environmental impacts and an economic analysis.

"The selection of the new site will allow NSW Health and the Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service to complete detailed health services planning for the Northern Beaches," he said.

The site of the new hospital is the north-western quadrant of the intersection of Warringah Road and the Wakehurst Parkway. Negotiations will begin with landowners in the area, NSW Housing and private individuals to reach an agreed and beneficial outcome.

"Planning the services, and designing and building the new hospital, is a very complex task. At this stage, the planning process should be completed in the second half of 2007. Construction would be expected to start after that and take at least three years to complete," Mr Hatzistergos said.

Mr Hatzistergos said the site decision will allow health service planners to fully develop an acute clinical services plan for the new Northern Beaches Hospital and the complementary services to be offered at the existing Mona Vale Hospital site.

"The full extent of services to be offered by Mona Vale Hospital will be determined in the detailed planning process," Mr Hatzistergos said.

Mr Hatzistergos said the future use of the Manly Hospital site will be determined in consultation with the community with one possible use being aged care.

The development of a new metropolitan hospital for Sydney's northern beaches will provide high quality healthcare services and facilities, while ensuring new health-related uses for the Manly and Mona Vale Hospital sites.

While service planning moves forward, the NSW Government will continue its investment in both Manly and Mona Vale hospitals. In the past two years, the Government's investment has included:

• $2.9 million for the physical upgrade of the Emergency Department at Mona Vale Hospital;
• $2 million for the upgrade of the Intensive Care Unit at Manly Hospital;
• $1.9 million recurrent and $700,000 capital for an Emergency Medicine unit at Manly Hospital;
• $1.7 million joint State/Commonwealth funding to enhance aged care services;
• $500,000 for air conditioning systems at Mona Vale Hospital;
• $429,000 in fire and safety upgrades across both sites;
• $250,000 for inter-hospital transport for Manly and Mona Vale Hospitals.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au