The RNS Hospital and Community Health Services Redevelopment Project

Last updated 1 August 2008

Above: artist's impression of the view from the bottom of Reserve Road, looking up past the heritage buildings to the new main hospital building.

Project status

The redevelopment of Royal North Shore Hospital and Community Health Service will be the biggest health capital works project in NSW.

Work will commence on the site in late 2008 and the new main hospital building will be completed in mid-2013; the community health building by mid-2011.

The new hospital will provide a total of 626 beds - including 46 critical care beds and 40 mental health beds - as part of a state-of-the-art facility which will provide for more convenient and better integrated patient care across all disciplines.

The old Brown Building - as it is known - will be demolished.

Each of the bids allows appropriate capacity for expansion to ensure what is built is able to meet the expansion needs of the health service in both the medium and long term.

On completion, the redeveloped Royal North Shore Hospital will offer a new acute services facility, a Community Health Centre and refurbishment to some existing buildings, providing:

• 462 acute beds to complement the 124 beds provided within the already completed Douglas Building;
• 40 acute mental health beds;
• Additional chemotherapy and renal dialysis chairs;
• Enhanced diagnostic services and ambulatory care services and;
• A total of 29 procedure and operating rooms.

About the project

The project includes a new main hospital building with new operating theatres and procedure rooms, a new emergency department and new day stay and ward areas.

There will be new community health facilities on the campus, close to public transport, but separate from the main hospital building.

There are plans to develop new child care centre, and accommodation on site for staff, students and family members of patients from country areas (to replace the Rotary Lodge service).

The consolidation of research and education into a new, purpose-built facility will create a dynamic environment with a greater capacity for teams to share knowledge as well as resources.

The new, high quality working environment will help attract and retain staff.

There is a long-term plan to improve parking on the site but like most NSW metropolitan hospitals, parking is at a premium. There will be new parking areas below the main buildings, and, in the future, there will be a combination of day and short-term on-site parking, with greater emphasis on encouraging the use of public transport.

Improved urban planning will create new walkways, better links to St Leonards station and the nearby business district, new dining and leisure opportunities and pleasant new open spaces to enjoy.

For patients, carers and visitors:

We will continue to put patients first. In the future, treatment will be more convenient and better integrated across disciplines than at present.

Whenever possible, related services will be located close together to encourage better functional relationships. In other words, services will be able to work better together because the facilities are planned, built and organised in a more appropriate way.

There will be more options for day only treatment, but when you must stay in hospital, the wards will be more private and patient-friendly.

There will be improved access to services.

Above and below: artist's impressions of the future heritage precinct.