The redevelopment of John Hunter Hospital has advanced, with NSW Health Minister Ryan Park saying the $835 million project's first concrete slab has been poured and 600 tonnes of steel installed.
Dubbed the "John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct", it was first announced by the former Coalition government as a $780 million project in 2019.
Mr Park said in a statement released on Monday that the project, to be built next to the existing hospital, would "improve health outcomes across the Hunter".
"A new seven-storey acute services building is the centrepiece of the precinct," Mr Park said.
The minister added that it would provide a "60 per cent increase in intensive care unit capacity and expanded critical care services for adults and children".
Mr Park said the project would boost "local jobs and the economy".
"Construction for the redevelopment is progressing and will create around 1500 direct jobs, with the potential to support thousands of indirect jobs over the life of the project," Mr Park said.
He said about 180 workers presently work at the site each day.
"This is expected to increase to around 800 a day at the peak of construction," he said.
Minister for the Hunter Tim Crakanthorp said John Hunter Hospital was "the only tertiary referral hospital between Sydney and the Queensland border".
Mr Crakanthorp, also the Newcastle MP, said the hospital was vital to "ensuring every growing community in northern NSW has access to high-level emergency care".
Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery said work on the project uncovered "abandoned mining tunnels" about 90 metres below ground.
Ms Hornery said significant work occurred to remediate the mine areas to ensure "a solid foundation for the site".
The precinct, due to be completed in 2026, will include a new emergency department and more adult and paediatric critical care services.
It also includes a birthing suite and inpatient maternity unit, neonatal intensive care unit and special care nursery, two rooftop helipads, operating theatres and more than 900 car spaces for staff and visitors.
A master plan for the precinct was released in August 2019, saying it would create "new opportunities for education, training and employment", as well as expanded hospital services.
The government said in June last year that the project would boost theatre capacity and emergency department treatment spaces by about 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.
Data released last month showed John Hunter Hospital recorded its worst quarterly result for the time that patients spend in the emergency department since modern records began in 2010.
The health sector was facing fallout from restricted healthcare during the pandemic, long elective surgery waiting lists, staff shortages and demands for better pay and conditions.
The Newcastle Herald reported last week that departments at John Hunter Hospital were being left with shift vacancies, despite being told they were "fully staffed".
Hunter New England Health said in 2019 that it hoped the NSW government would commit another $800 million to refurbish the existing "old hospital" in "stage two" of the project.
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