St Andrew’s to expand in 2018

March construction date set for new beds

CONSTRUCTION will begin on St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital’s $7.1 million mental health unit early in the new year.

As part of the expansion, the existing mental health unit will be converted into additional medical beds to keep up with patient demand.

St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital CEO Ray Fairweather said the current mental health unit would undergo a “minor refurbishment” before it became part of the medical ward, adding 23 new beds to the hospital’s capacity.

Mr Fairweather said there were periods during winter where the medical ward was fully occupied, prompting the need for the expansion.

“One of the issues that we have is there are quite a number of physicians who have established private practice on the campus at St Andrew’s, and the increase in doctors has seen an increase in patients wanting access to... the hospital,” Mr Fairweather said.

He added that the winter flu season was also a contributing factor to the shortage of beds.

The new mental health unit will be built on the hospital grounds on the corner of Westland and Prosser St, and will house 20 single bed rooms, with en-suites.

The project is expected to start construction in March 2018, and will take roughly 10-12 months to complete.

Local contractors and subcontractors will be involved in the build.

While the new year will herald a period of change at the hospital, Christmas has also seen some important changes for patients.

For the first time, two theatres are remaining open over Christmas and the New Year for patients to have elective surgery.

Similarly, the mental health unit will stay open over the holiday period, both decisions made as a result of patient demand.

“The mental health unit during the month of November was at 95 per cent occupancy,” Mr Fairweather said.

Mr Fairweather said mental health issues did not disappear at Christmas.

“In fact, statistically, there’s been research that has demonstrated that Christmas can be a very difficult time for patients with mental health issues,” he said.

“Whilst for most of us Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, that’s not always correct for patients that have a mental illness.”

“The increase in doctors has seen an increase in patients wanting access to... the hospital,” — Ray Fairweather, CEO