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The Newcastle Mater Hospital redevelopment involves;
- The financing, design, construction and commissioning of new buildings and refurbishment of existing buildings by a special-purpose sector “private partnership” on the site of the Newcastle Misericordiae Hospital on Edith Street in Waratah, and
- Private sector facilities management and delivery of ancillaries non-clinical services on the site until November 2033, with non-clinical staff at the hospital being managed by the private sector parties but continuing to be employed by the hospital’s owners, Mercy Health Care (Newcastle) Limited, or the Hunter & New England Area Health Service, as applicable.
In return for performance –based monthly payments to the private sector parties by the Health Administration Corporation during the operational phase of the project.
The private sector parties are represented by Novacare Solutions Partnership.
Health services at the hospital, the second largest in Newcastle, will continue to be delivered by Mercy Health Care (Newcastle) Limited and Hunter & New England Area Health Service.
The redevelopment of the Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital at Waratah in Newcastle is a major undertaking by NSW Health and Novacare by any measure.
The Redevelopment includes;
- Redevelopment of the 196 bed Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital, including;
- 2 new linear accelerators and 3 new bunkers
- New chemotherapy suite
- New medical centre and allied health areas
- New Chapel and meditation area
- 3 new operating theatres and day surgery unit
- New diagnostic centre
- 3 new wards
- New larger Emergency Department
- New Intensive Care Unit
- New Coronary Care Unit
- New Medical Records Department
- Involves the relocation of the majority of mental health services from the James Fletcher Site to the Mater, including;
- Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit
- Psychiatric Emergency Centre
- New purpose built Library
- Long term protection of assets
- Further defining of the Mater Hospital’s role as a centre of ongoing excellence within the Hunter and NSW.
- The Mater will become the largest provider of radiation oncology services in NSW
The Department of Health has estimated that these cancer therapy and mental health facilities will become available several years earlier than would have been possible had traditional public sector funding approaches been adopted, and the NSW treasury has estimated that the net present cost of the hospital will be approximately 2% lower than it would have been under conventional public sector delivery, assuming the same timeframe's for both methods of delivery.
The capital cost (in 2003 AU$) of the project’s works is approximately $132m, including approx. $80m for the 176 bed hospital, $34m for the new Mental Health facility and $18m for the new radiotherapy facilities.
Expressions of Interest for the project were called in 2003 by the Department of Health, and Novacare, as one of six initial respondents was short listed in August 2004 to provided a response to a Request for Detailed Proposals. After negotiation and assessment by the Department, Novacare was awarded Preferred Proponent Status on July 11, 2005. Financial Close and contract commencement was on November 30, 2005, with construction commencing in January 2006.
Stage 1 – consisting mainly of South Block, Radiation Oncology and Central Plant was completed and operational in January 2008. Stage 2 – involving North Block, Emergency Department & ICU will be operational by January 2009, with the remainder of North Block, Mental Health the “Main Street”, and chapel complete and full services commencement in June 2009. The provision of Services under the Project Deed continues until 2033
Note: Source of information – Summary of Contracts Document, NSW Health 30 December, 2005.
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