UnitingCare Health have announced that the building contract for the construction of the new St Stephen’s Hospital in Hervey Bay has been awarded to Cockram Construction.
Cockram Construction is an established national builder of repute, which has for decades delivered leading edge construction projects for the healthcare and medical sectors in Australia. Formerly known as Hooker Cockram Projects, the business modernised its name and branding and from January 2011 became known simply as Cockram Construction. The company celebrated its 150th year in 2011, making them Australia’s oldest continuously operating building company.
General Manager of St Stephen’s, Leanne Tones, has stated that Cockram “prepared a very comprehensive and competitive tender submission. It was particularly pleasing to see their commitment to community engagement, and delivering local community benefits”.
“Cockram commenced early discussions with the Master Builders Association and local Civil and Structural Engineering firms. They have been working closely with local builders and trades to enhance the employment opportunities within the Fraser Coast and have already advertised for expressions of interest from local sub-contractors” said Ms Tones.
We are so excited that we can now move on to the next steps in delivering this new hospital for the Fraser Coast Region. The fencing went up earlier this week and we plan to have a “Sod Turning” ceremony in early January, with construction commencing in Mid January.
The Building program should see the building handed over in August 2014, with an expected opening of the hospital in September. This wait is due to the significant amount of commissioning and testing that will be required from an eHealth perspective, which can’t commence until the building construction is complete and handed over.