St Stephen’s Hospital Hervey Bay is one step closer to welcoming patients to its new facility as it counts down to opening day on Monday 13 October.
The key handover between St Stephen’s Hospital General Manager Deb Boyd and Cockram Builders on Friday 22 August marked the end of structural work at St Stephen’s Hospital in Hervey Bay’s Medical Place.
Now the focus moves to the hospital fit-out, training staff in cutting-edge ehealth systems and processes, and completing other final preparations ahead of the first patients being admitted on Monday 13 October.
Mrs Boyd said the key handover was an important milestone for the hospital, which will be Australia’s first fully-integrated digital hospital in a regional area.
“I am thrilled that we now have the keys to this amazing facility and would like to thank the skilled and professional team at Cockram Construction, as well as local builders, who have worked tirelessly to ensure the hospital was delivered on-time and on-budget,” Mrs Boyd said.
“We look forward to welcoming our first patients on 13 October and to delivering the Fraser Coast community with the highest level of patient care in our state-of-the-art facilities.”
Mrs Boyd added: “We are planning an opportunity for the public to view the hospital later in September prior to opening in October.
Executive Director of UnitingCare Health, Richard Royle, said the new hospital will put the people of the Fraser Coast at the forefront of healthcare innovation.
“The ehealth system will translate into one of the best healthcare experiences available to patients in Australia, as well as resulting in St Stephen’s Hospital becoming a national benchmark in quality patient care and safety,” he said.
“The new hospital, because of its connectivity, is also able to attract additional specialists into the region enabling us to provide more complex surgery for patients with more acute conditions without them having to seek treatment outside the Fraser Coast.”
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St Stephen’s Hospital Hervey Bay will be Australia’s first fully-integrated digital hospital in a regional area. The state-of-the-art ‘hospital of the future’ has been supported by the Federal Government’s Health and Hospitals Fund, which is providing $47 million towards the estimated $96 million construction and eHealth costs.
Stage one of the St Stephen’s Hospital in Hervey Bay includes 96 inpatient beds. This will be expanded to 180 beds in stage two.
As part of UnitingCare Health, St Stephen’s Hospital is a not-for-profit private healthcare provider owned by the Uniting Church and is the only not-for-profit provider of private hospital services on the Fraser Coast.