Last December, an electric fire at the former Calvary Public Hospital (now North Canberra Hospital) damaged seven theatres. Four of those theatres reopened earlier this year, but the remaining three, now completely refurbished, will open next week.

Dr Elaine Pretorius, the hospital’s general manager, was delighted seven theatres would be up and running by the end of the year.

“It’s fantastic – we didn’t think this would ever happen,” she said today.

Three theatres, a procedure room, and a patient recovery area were entirely rebuilt, while the day surgery waiting area has been repaired and upgraded.

The “much prettier, much shinier” rebuild includes lots of new equipment and additional safety measures, Dr Pretorius said. The refurbishment cost $15 million.

Surgeries will begin again on Monday. Up to 15 patients per day could pass through the theatre for high-turnover surgeries like urology or ophthalmology, while a single theatre could take three to four patients a day for larger procedures like joint replacement.

Dr Pretorius expects to resume all previous surgery lists, and add some additional ones.

To prevent further electrical fires, the rooms will be serviced as per the manufacturer’s requirements: they will be inspected and maintained to keep them in good working order, facilities manager Asif Hossain said.

Refurbishing the theatres was “a mammoth task”, Mr Hossain said: a team worked three shifts a day. A microbiologist and environmental scientist were called in to deal with mould; the walls were taken back to the structure, and mechanical ducts removed.

Dr Pretorius expected the refurbishment to last until the new North Canberra Hospital is built.

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