[COM] New Royal Adelaide Hospital | $2.1b

[urban]

Hospital merger call
Article from: The Advertiser
MICHAEL OWEN, POLITICAL REPORTER
September 26, 2007 02:15am
DOCTORS at the Women's and Children's Hospital are lobbying the State Government to merge with the planned Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Hospital.

Eminent pediatric oncologist Dr Michael Rice, who also is chairman of the Clinical Senate - a government-appointed body designed to help guide health reform - said a survey of WCH clinicians and specialists had found "a solid majority in favour of co-location" with the new $1.7 billion hospital.

The new hospital, revealed by The Advertiser on May 24, is to be built at the Adelaide railyards site, west of the Morphett St Bridge, as a replacement for the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

A fortnight after The Advertiser report, the Government announced that the new hospital was central to major reform of the state's health system and would open in 2016.

Dr Rice yesterday said informal talks with Health Department officials about the WCH being part of the new hospital were ongoing, with chief executive Dr Tony Sherbon tonight scheduled to address a meeting of the WCH medical staff society on the issue.

"It would be very foolish for the Government to not seriously consider this," Dr Rice said, adding that the doctors' case was still being developed.

Health Minister John Hill's media adviser, Catherine Hockley, said in an emailed statement there had been "no formal proposition" put to the Minister.

Senior Health Department sources, however, said there had been "a strong push by a lot of WCH clinicians" in favour of closing the WCH to be part of the new hospital.

WCH acting chief executive Gail Mondy yesterday declined to comment and referred all inquiries to the Health Department.

Dr Rice is involved in ongoing talks with government officials about a possible co-location.

He said most other major cities in Australia had merged women's and children's services with general hospitals.

"The Women's and Children's is essentially an obstetric hospital and there are few non-reproductive services for women on site," Dr Rice said.

Women who developed a surgical or significant medical complication at the WCH "have to go elsewhere anyway".

"From a pediatric perspective, we also have a problem with transitional care," Dr Rice said.

"Kids growing up with illnesses they once would have died from now need to graduate from pediatric services to adult services and that is often a difficult and traumatic period."

WCH emergency department staff and radiologists also believed there would be clinical advantages if they were part of the new hospital, he said.

In Parliament this month, Mr Hill said determining "the nature of the things that will be in the (new) hospital" required consultation with clinical experts.

Dr Rice said the Government made a decision about building the new hospital without consultation.

"Now they're getting their consultation and they're getting some things they don't necessarily want to hear," he said.

Dr Rice said senior health officials had told WCH staff earlier this year that relocating the WCH to the new hospital had been considered and "rejected on monetary grounds" by the Government.

Opposition health spokeswoman Vickie Chapman said she would seek answers about the future of the WCH from Mr Hill during Question Time in State Parliament today.

Given the proximity of the two hospitals this seems a logical move.

[BJMAC]

A Hospital here is the BIGGEST waste of space for this piece of land Adelaide will ever see!!

Seriously we, the youth will be the ones still struggling to get a tourist industry happening in Adelaide if the oldies keep leaving us with these messes...

its such a pretty spot on the torrens there, why not create an Adelaidean version of Melbourne's southbank, with restaurants along a promenade that open up to the festival centre. Perhaps we should write to Donald Trump and have him sponsor us like he has in Dubai... have you seen the AMAZING building he is making there??? google search "Trump Tower Dubai" haha.

Anywho, either a groovy promenade or I'm all for using the space for a new stadium. because the next stop is the city railway station, you'd be able to get a train there from (almost anywhere). The existing Ent Centre could be demolished and new "Marj" hospital could be placed on the triangle shaped block there (with access from busy port and grange rds). Alternatively, I did hear the Keswick Barracks on the start of the ANZAC HWY may be moving, in which case the hospital could go there. Either way, a brand spaking new new hospital will look fantastic at either of these locations

[rhino]

A brand spanking new hospital will look great at almost any location, but if you read back a few posts in this thread you will see the very valid arguments for having it in the CBD, close to multiple forms of transport that everyone in the community can access. I don't see why a Southbank-style development can't still happen, stretching all the way from The Marj Tahal to the Casino and the Festival Centre. There's still going to be plenty of room. Read Urban's post from 24th September to see the benefits of having the hospital in this location.

[crawf]

Seriously we, the youth will be the ones still struggling to get a tourist industry happening in Adelaide if the oldies keep leaving us with these messes...

Actually the Tourism Industry in SA, has improved quite alot over the last few years, international visitors coming to SA has skyrocketed.

[BJMAC]

Ok, ok, ok, I was getting carried away yesterday with the whole Tourism SA dig. I just think that there must be a better location for a hospital. The whole city is surrounded by parks, so finding a new place for the patients & families to get out will not be hard... Just revamp a section of the existing parklands to make them more into a garden type area. Looking on Google Earth, places like the old clipsal sight are a tad too far away from the CBD to be the main city hospital.

Its just such an awesome spot to get a purpose built cultural centre. Right on the river with train access and soon to be tram access too.

Adelaide has just got so much potential.

Who knows, one day, when Adelaide considers the idea of a subway, the rail lines could continue east under North Tce with stations under the Adelaide Uni and then emerge to normal rail to service the Eastern suburbs like Norwood, Magill etc.

Or a new Tram extension could go right down North Tce, with stops at Adelaide Uni, then the Botanic Gardens & Wine Centre (this would also be great during the Fringe Festival to service the "Garden of Un-Earthly Delights"). It could then continue along North Tce and trun right down College Rd (near the Tapp Inn) and cut thru to the The Parade.

I think it'd also be awesome to oneday see the Trams continue along Port Rd (somewhat like like St Kilda Rd in Melbourne) to the newly developed Port Adelaide area... When the Expressway is finished there will be a lot less trucks going thru there and they could really class it up to be something more like Fremantle in Perth perhaps... The trams could run thru the grassy middle all the way to the Port having minimal impact on traffic.

Just some ideas for the city we love!

[Cruise]

I think it'd also be awesome to oneday see the Trams continue along Port Rd (somewhat like like St Kilda Rd in Melbourne) to the newly developed Port Adelaide area... When the Expressway is finished there will be a lot less trucks going thru there and they could really class it up to be something more like Fremantle in Perth perhaps... The trams could run thru the grassy middle all the way to the Port having minimal impact on traffic.

And whats wrong with catching a train to Port Adelaide?

i cant work out why everyone on this website firms up over trams so much.

[Shuz]

I think it'd also be awesome to oneday see the Trams continue along Port Rd (somewhat like like St Kilda Rd in Melbourne) to the newly developed Port Adelaide area... When the Expressway is finished there will be a lot less trucks going thru there and they could really class it up to be something more like Fremantle in Perth perhaps... The trams could run thru the grassy middle all the way to the Port having minimal impact on traffic.

And whats wrong with catching a train to Port Adelaide?

i cant work out why everyone on this website firms up over trams so much.

Well, compare the state of our trams versus the state of our trains. I know what most of us would prefer to travel on.

[Cruise]

I think it'd also be awesome to oneday see the Trams continue along Port Rd (somewhat like like St Kilda Rd in Melbourne) to the newly developed Port Adelaide area... When the Expressway is finished there will be a lot less trucks going thru there and they could really class it up to be something more like Fremantle in Perth perhaps... The trams could run thru the grassy middle all the way to the Port having minimal impact on traffic.

And whats wrong with catching a train to Port Adelaide?

i cant work out why everyone on this website firms up over trams so much.

Well, compare the state of our trams versus the state of our trains. I know what most of us would prefer to travel on.

and i know which one i want to see upgraded

[Ben]

Adelaide's new tallest building?

'Forty storey' Marj
Article from: The Advertiser

MATT WILLIAMS

October 06, 2007 12:00am

THE State Government has described as "impractical, ill-informed and silly" a Lord Mayoral candidate's proposal to build the Marjorie-Jackson Nelson Hospital at the Gouger St mail exchange site.

Francene Connor, who is seen as the main challenger to Lord Mayor Michael Harbison in this month's council election, stated this week the hospital would be best suited to the site on the western edge of the city centre.

Mrs Connor wants to protect the parklands from any development. The railyard site slated for the hospital is technically parklands.

Health Minister John Hill, however, said building the hospital on Gouger St would breach Adelaide City Council's cap on building height.

"Preliminary research through the Department of Health showed that the new hospital built at the Gouger St site would have to be up to 40 storeys tall to accommodate all of its services," he said. "The zoning for this site has a height restriction of about seven storeys, and all the buildings around this site are one to two storeys."

Describing it as an "unworkable idea", Mr Hill said that "we would have to build Adelaide's tallest building on this site to provide all the services that are proposed for the new hospital".

"But that's not the only drawback with this site. It is not close to public transport links and is some distance from other health services and the universities," he said.

"All in all, the proposal is an impractical, ill-informed, silly idea. I call for the mayoral candidate to withdraw her support for her deeply flawed proposal." Yesterday, Mrs Connor said she had not researched whether the site was capable of holding the hospital, but her point was to deflect the Government's attention away from building on parklands.

[Brando]

^^^^^^^ See the Artist Impression in the paper of the "forty storey Marj".

The middle looks like 'Spire' and the very top looks like Burj Dubai.

[Mants]

that would be the most impractical concept ever thought up.

how dumb

[UrbanSG]

All a complete wank :wank: Poor excuse for an article as usual and a poor excuse for a mayoral candidate, she really stuffed up on that one. Lets move on.

[Howie]

Basically summed up my thoughts already... you'd need to get a massive tower to accommodate even half the floorspace of the current RAH. I'd doubt 40 storeys would be even enough.

At the current RAH site, you've got a series of 10-15 level towers, underground levels, 6 level carparking, a med school, a dentistry, various research groups and the imvs, the cafe, the list just keeps going on and on. Very naive to think that'd you'd be able to plonk the rah on a site with a plot of about 25% of the current.

[Mants]

a highrise hospital is just a ridiculous concept.

imagine trying to evacuate beds from the 40th floor.

[aussie2000]

yer i agree although 40 stories in Adelaide would be great, not for a hospital. even 10 stories is to tall for me