Premier Roger Cook assures redevelopment of Albany Health Campus is “being worked through”

Plans for upgrading the Albany Health Campus are still in the pipeline, according to Premier Roger Cook, as he acknowledges the facility is “under the pump”. The Premier, who visited the hospital last week to announce the construction of a $4.1 million special care nursery, assured the community that the $320m business case produced in 2021 was still being considered. “The master plan is still being worked through,” he said. “Obviously, what we want to be able to do is make sure that the planning is around the future needs of the people of Albany. “When it comes to hospital care, this is a great hospital, but we know that it’s under the pump at the moment.” A 2022 WA Country Health Service inquiry report said the hospital had an “inability to meet the patient care demand” of the community. First put together in December 2021, the two-stage redevelopment plan involves upgrades to key infrastructure over a six-year time frame. Stage one works would include a new mental health building, upgrading the main entry, the health information unit, the emergency department, intensive care and high-dependency care units and the geriatric evaluation management unit. Stage two would involve the pharmacy being moved to a new location and the discharge lounge and multi-faith room moved to level two. Attention would also be given to ambulatory care and allied health, population health and paediatric hub, while the operating theatre would be refurbished. Large-scale upgrades to the AHC were skipped over in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 State budgets, promising a new dental clinic and additional bays to the carpark. WACHS executive director Evelyn Quinn said mitigating measures were in place to relieve pressure in the meantime. “As part of the 2024-25 Budget, the State Government has committed $8.8 million to optimise patient flow in busy country hospitals, including Albany Health Campus,” she said. “The commitment sees specialists across medical, nursing and allied health work together to support patients who don’t need hospital-level care to be treated in non-acute settings. “For Albany, the initiative has seen around a 10 per cent decrease in potentially preventable hospitalisations after an ED attendance and, alongside other patient flow initiatives, increased overall bed availability. “It has also translated to substantially lower re-presentation rates in the period up to nine months following discharge.” Mr Cook said though “significant investment” would be seen over the next few years, details needed ironing out. “One of the things we need to actually understand is, what is the future for Albany Hospital on this whole campus? Do we go up? Do we go out?” he said. “How do we actually cater for the parking and the needs of the growing community? “(It is being) worked through on a budget to budget basis, but you could certainly anticipate that we as a WA Labor Government, who prioritise healthcare, will see significant investment in this hospital into future years.”