The new Critical Services Building (Building 5), housing the Emergency Department, will open at Canberra Hospital this weekend.

The Critical Services Building is the centrepiece of the Canberra Hospital expansion, designed to increase emergency department, surgical, and critical care capacity, and to gather the hospital’s acute care services into one building.

It will have 22 operating theatres, 147 emergency department spaces, 156 in-patient beds, 32 cardiac care beds, 55 day-surgery beds, and 60 ICU treatment spaces.

The new Emergency Department in Building 5 will open for emergency surgeries at 7:30am on Saturday. From that time, all ambulances and emergency patients should go directly there. The current ED will close to new arrivals, but patients already there will be treated there. Staff will be on hand to guide anyone arriving at the old ED to the new building.

Around 160 patients will be moved to the new building throughout the day. One clinical team will prepare patients for the transfer and move into the new Building, while another in Building 5 will receive new patients and those who have moved.

No elective procedures are planned for the weekend, whilst the service is moving.

The building also contains a helideck, clinical forensic medical unit, intensive care unit, operating theatres, cardiac catheterisation laboratories, medical imaging, and inpatient units – all of which will be ready for patients.

Some elective surgery and Cardiac Catheter Laboratory procedures have been performed in the new building since Tuesday.

The transition may cause some disruptions, and the government asks the public to be patient and to reconsider non-essential visits to the hospital during the move.

“Moving hospital services is no small task,” health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said. “The clinical teams have been working hard to prepare for the move and ensure a safe and smooth transition of services to the new building.

“There are comprehensive move plans in place for all services. However, while the clinical teams get familiar with their new work environments over the coming weeks, we expect that there may be some disruption.

“We’re asking the community for their understanding and patience during this time and to reconsider their need to attend the hospital this weekend if they don’t need to be there.”

Dr Sam Scanlan, staff specialist at the Canberra Hospital Emergency Department, reminded the public that the ED was for emergencies.

“Consider where the best place is for you to access the care you need. There’s a tool on the Canberra Health Services website that has this information, and we encourage everyone to download the ACT Health app for easy access to information about urgent care options.”

“Of course, if you need emergency care, our dedicated teams will be there to look after you,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

For more information about the building and the move arrangements, visit canberrahealthservices.act.gov.au/csb.