A rooftop topping-out ceremony this morning marked the completion of the tallest point of the Canberra Hospital’s new Critical Services Building: the ninth level helipad, just over 40 metres high.
Rachel Stephen-Smith, ACT Minister for Health, and representatives from construction company Multiplex, consumer groups, and Canberra Health Services attended the ceremony.
A tree – a native acacia melanoxylon – was planted to signify the building had reached its highest point of construction. The tradition (normally using pines) began in Scandinavia.
The Critical Services Building is the centrepiece of the Canberra Hospital expansion, designed to increase emergency department, surgical, and critical care capacity. It will have a bigger emergency department, more operating theatres, more treatment spaces, and more intensive care beds, Ms Stephen-Smith said. In total, 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 building’s new technology and modern facilities will help us attract a clinical workforce from not only Australia but around the world who will want to work in this new building and make Canberra their new home,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
Building work began on the Critical Services Building in November 2021, and is expected to be completed mid-next year.
- Building work begins on Canberra Hospital Expansion’s centrepiece (1 November 2021)
Ms Stephen-Smith said the building had risen “at an incredible pace” over the last year.
She thanked clinicians, consumers, and staff involved in designing the Critical Services Building layout and services.
“Their input has been key to creating a modern facility that is accessible and welcoming for staff, patients, and visitors,” she said.
In February, the ACT Government announced it would invest an additional $16.9 million to future proof the building for pandemics, add more equipment sterilisation services, and enhanced imaging facilities.
In the coming months, the building will be internally fitted out, landscaping and art installed, and Hospital Road widened to provide better access for pedestrians and vehicles.
