A new $470 million hospital in Metford opened its doors today to patients from Maitland and its surrounds, as Hunter New England Health promises the facility will bring new and improved healthcare services to the region.
Hunter New England Local Health District Chief Executive, Michael DiRienzo, said the new hospital had been a decade in the works.
“I’m extremely pleased to inform our community that the official countdown is now on and in a short few days they will have access to state-of-the-art medical care in a modern and high-quality health facility,” he said.
To cater for a growing population, the new facility is almost double the size of the existing Maitland Hospital and has 150 more beds, bringing the total bed capacity to approximately 340.
The hospital will provide expanded facilities for surgery, maternity and paediatric care, along with renal dialysis facilities, oral health services and outpatient clinics.
A new 12-chair chemotherapy service, an MRI and an additional CT scanner, as well as a purpose-built Early Treatment Zone (ETZ) in the emergency department enables patients to be assessed and treated more efficiently, said Hunter New England Health.
Visitors to the hospital will also have access to a new purpose built carpark.
Hunter New England Health said the new chemotherapy, emergency short stay and cardiac catheterisation offerings are a first for the Maitland region, and claimed there is still room for future expansion.
Mr DiRienzo also revealed the new facility possesses a better capacity to treat COVID-19 patients.
“With two-thirds of the rooms in the new hospital being single rooms, along with negative pressure rooms we can also better support our COVID-positive patients in the new space,” he said.
DiRienzo added that “the new hospital has been built to cater for the community as it grows and changes, and when all services have been transferred, the existing hospital will close.”
He said patient welfare was currently the hospital’s number one priority, and that comprehensive measures have been in place to ensure continuity of care.
“The transition of patients and services requires careful planning and infection control practices, and this will be our approach as we transition our staff and patients to the new hospital.”
He said staff had been “hard at work preparing for the move”, which would be a staged process that “will happen quite quickly over one week”, he said
The transition of staff and patients to the new site began at 8am this morning and involved 96 patients and 15 transport vehicles with assistance from 500 staff across both sites.
Beatrice Mitchell, among some of the first patients transferred to the new hospital today, said staff did a “good job” when completing the moving process.
“It was a bit hectic because there were a lot of people … some who could walk unassisted and others who had to be lifted and transferred to trolleys and out into ambulances.”
“[Health staff] were checking off everybody to make sure everything was all right. All in all they’ve done a very good job.”
The Port Stephens local described the new facility as “really lovely, with beautiful new, modern bathroom and lovely big wide halls where they can put two trolleys side by side and not be constrained by space.”
Officials have reminded residents that the emergency department at High Street is now closed, and that anyone needing emergency care should present to the new Maitland Hospital on Metford Road.
“This is a busy time for the team so please only come to the new hospital if you need medical treatment,” a statement said.
Health authorities are yet to reveal plans for the current High Street hospital’s future, which was built in 1849.
However, residents across the Hunter have urged local MP’s and NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard to consider it for continued public use.
Maia O’Connor
Information source: Media release, City of Newcastle