Contractors will be invited to pitch their services to work on a new northside hospital, with the ACT government confirming it wants to press on with design and planning work for the project.
The territory government is going out to tender for a delivery partner for a new Bruce hospital, which is expected to cost more than $1 billion to construct.
Construction on the new hospital is expected to start in the coming years and will be built on the existing North Canberra Hospital site.
The new hospital was given as one of the main reasons for the government's compulsory acquisition of the former Calvary Bruce Public Hospital.
The government is seeking expressions of interest for a contractor to support earlier planning, design and constructability for the project.
Contractors will respond to the government's call for expressions of interest and will shortlist tenders who will then be invited to respond to a request-for-tender process.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the new hospital would cater to a growing population in Canberra's north. The population is forecast to nearly double in size over the next four decades to house more than half a million people.
"The new northside hospital will deliver a welcoming and world-class facility that replaces the ageing infrastructure on the Bruce campus," she said.
"It will have more treatment spaces, a bigger emergency department and state-of-the-art equipment for our workforce.
"Most importantly, it will provide greater capacity for our health care system and ensure Canberrans can continue to access quality public healthcare across the ACT as our population grows and health needs change."
The ACT government is yet to pay Calvary the full compensation for its forcible acquisition of Bruce hospital, with the two sides still negotiating the final amount payable to the Catholic health care organisation.
The acquisition legislation requires the government to provide compensation to Calvary. The government has already paid $23 million for costs associated with the transition.
It's been one year since the government announced it would take over the hospital.
