Premier and Member for Manly Mike Baird and Health Minister Jillian Skinner today announced Healthscope has been chosen as the preferred tenderer to design, build, operate and maintain the new Northern Beaches Hospital.

Mr Baird and Mrs Skinner were joined on the 6.5 hectare Frenchs Forest site by Member for Wakehurst Brad Hazzard and Member for Davidson Jonathan O’Dea as the hospital design was unveiled.

“The people of the Northern Beaches have been waiting decades for this hospital to get off the ground and today the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is delivering,” Mr Baird said.

“The Northern Beaches Hospital will be the first built on a greenfield site in Sydney in 20 years, delivering the best possible care to public and private patients.

“After a rigorous evaluation process, Heathscope’s proposal for a modern, nine storey hospital will contain 488 beds, 1,400 car spaces and a helipad.

“This project will be valued at about $1 billion, including $400 million in road upgrades that the NSW Government will complete before the doors open in 2018. It will also provide an economic boost to NSW, with 700 jobs created during construction.

“Partnering with one of Australia’s leading health care providers is the smart solution, allowing the Northern Beaches Hospital to be built faster, at less cost to the taxpayer.

“The money saved on the capital and the long-term maintenance costs can be reinvested by the NSW Government into frontline health services.”

Mrs Skinner said: “I have long had a dream about a state-of-the-art hospital which uses the latest technology and attracts the best clinicians to deliver care for the people of the Northern Beaches.

“I want the Northern Beaches Hospital to be a showcase to the world, attracting health professionals keen to see its high-tech facilities.”

Under the design unveiled today, the Northern Beaches Hospital will include:
· a 50-space emergency department – an increase on the total 30 spaces that currently exist in Manly Hospital and Mona Vale Hospital;
· 14 operating theatres and six surgical suites;
· state-of-the-art intensive care and critical care units;
· a modern inpatient mental health facility.

“There will be 1,300 staff employed at the new hospital – 400 more than the total currently employed at Manly Hospital and Mona Vale Hospital. This will mean exciting opportunities for the current, hardworking staff of both hospitals.”

The Northern Sydney Local Health District will enter into a long-term partnership with Healthscope to provide public patient services over the next 20 years.

At the end of the contract period, the public portion of the hospital can be handed back to the NSW Government at no additional cost. Healthscope then has a further 20 years to provide services to private patients before the remaining part of the hospital can also be returned.

Mrs Skinner said: “As part of the contract, Healthscope will be required to meet stringent Australian quality and safety healthcare standards.”

“Public and private patients will both be winners under this model. Public patients will no longer have to travel out of the Northern Beaches to other hospitals for higher order health care – they will be treated closer to home.

“And, privately-insured patients will also have easier access to this higher order health care in a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility.”

The Northern Beaches Hospital will work closely with Mona Vale Hospital, which will provide sub-acute hospital services including palliative care, rehabilitation and aged care, community health and hydrotherapy, a 24/7 urgent care centre and helipad.

Mr Hazzard said: “This is bigger than Ben Hur for the Northern Beaches. We have been waiting for a long while to get our new hospital – and this makes it clear our day has come.”

Mr O’Dea said: “The prospect of a state-of-the-art, Level 5 hospital is becoming a reality. It will benefit thousands of people for years to come.”

The final contract close with Healthscope is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Preparatory activities are underway on the site, with construction due to begin in early 2015. The new hospital is set to open in 2018.