Your new Shellharbour Hospital
The NSW government has found a preferred site for the New Shellharbour Hospital.
The preferred site is at Dunmore Road, Shellharbour.
This site was chosen as it offered the best connections to transport and road network, with enough space for the new hospital to expand in the future.
Now that the preferred site has been selected, due diligence investigations, such as technical studies and environmental and transport considerations will now get underway before site acquisition takes place.
This important project will provide more care closer to home, reducing the need to travel out of the area for treatment.
The new hospital will include state-of-the-art facilities for emergency and critical care, mental health, medicine and surgery, rehabilitation and ambulatory care in a new location where we can continue to care for the community well into the future.
Project update
The Planning team is currently working on a draft Clinical Services Plan.
In addition to the preferred site, some other works, known as Integrated Services are also underway.
The components of the Integrated Services include:
- The purchase of an aged care facility in Bulli to accommodate more aged care beds
- Refurbishment of two Inpatient Units at Wollongong Hospital for specialised acute rehabilitation and complex palliative care
- A brand new healthcare facility to be built in the Warrawong area
This work will enable inpatient facilities currently located at the aging Port Kembla Hospital site to relocate to modern and fit-for-purpose facilities and help us to enhance our healthcare network across the District.
FAQs
Why do we need a new Shellharbour Hospital?
Our population is growing, and ageing, and people are living longer with chronic and complex illnesses. By 2031, Shellharbour is forecast to grow 23%, the fastest of all areas in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District.
To provide high quality, accessible healthcare for our growing population, we need a larger site, close to transport links and with space for a range of health services which can better serve the needs of our community now and into the future.
Like all regional areas, we are competing for high quality health care staff, so a new hospital will also help us attract new staff and provide more career opportunities to existing staff.
We also want to incorporate the lessons, the insights and the many breakthroughs we've made as a health service during COVID-19 to future-proof our services and the buildings that house them.
What services are being planned for the new Shellharbour Hospital?
Planning includes consultation with staff and the community, and we also need to look ahead to the kinds of services we might need in the future. At the moment, we expect the range of services to include:
- Expanded emergency services
- Increased surgical capacity
- Rehabilitation and aged care services
- Acute medical services
- New mental health services in contemporary, patient-centred facilities
- Renal dialysis
- Outpatients and ambulatory care services.
- A new multi-storey car park and improved public transport links will make it easier for staff, patients and visitors to access the hospital.
Where do we go for care while the new hospital is being built?
Your health care teams will continue to care for you in the existing Shellharbour Hospital until the new hospital opens.
When will work start on the new hospital?
Service planning, to confirm the range of health care services the new hospital will provide, is already underway and we expect a new location to be identified in 2021. Work will begin before March 2023.
Planning a new hospital takes time and care, with every hospital or facility plan tailored to a community’s unique needs. To find out more about how we plan and build hospitals and health services in NSW, check out this video.
How can we have a say?
Community consultation is a core component of the Project. The Southern Illawarra Hospital’s Consumer Advisory Group have been briefed on the Project and the wider community will be invited to provide feedback during this planning stage. Project user groups and governance committees will include consumers representatives and have representation from First Nations people. We are planning for a multi-pronged approach to informing and consulting our community, including information sessions and pop-up stands, newsletters and website updates.
To contact the project team, email ISLHD-ProjectComms@health.nsw.gov.au
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the Dharawal and Yuin nations on which the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District facilities and services operate.