New Royal Adelaide Hospital on track to open in June 2017 — but changes could prove costly
A CONSORTIUM overseeing the troubled new RAH says it is on track to open in June, but changes sought by the State Government on “safety” grounds may be difficult and increase the price to taxpayers.
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A CONSORTIUM overseeing the troubled new Royal Adelaide Hospital says the $2.1 billion project remains on track to open next June, but changes being sought by the State Government on “safety” grounds may be difficult to deliver and increase the price to taxpayers.
The State Government and SA Health Partnership consortium will begin a safety review on Monday to resolve disputes over a water-based cooling system at the new RAH which has previously failed, amid fears a repeat after opening day would lead to deaths and evacuation.
Health Minister Jack Snelling has publicly confirmed the concerns, and says the system must be fully fixed by builders before the Government is willing to move patients in and start paying.
The cost of a full back-up, as sought by the Government, is estimated about $85 million.
Speaking to The Advertiser, SAHP chief executive Duncan Jewell said an agreement must be reached and he firmly believed the consortium had delivered what the contract required.
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“These systems are used in other hospitals, they haven’t just been invented for nRAH,” he said. “If the Government wants something else not specified in the contract, it will need to be paid for.
“It’s just not feasible to have two mains running side-by-side through the hospital, in terms of the space that it takes up as well as the energy requirements to keep it moving and cool.”
Mr Jewell said the previous burst happened during testing and commissioning, which was not uncommon.
When the system burst, it flooded parts of the hospital and took weeks to restore.
Mr Snelling believes a repeat would leave the hospital without airconditioning and be dangerous for patients, as well as force medical equipment to shut down to avoid overheating.
SAHP says that, when the hospital is open, maintenance crews would be on-site at all times and able to quickly isolate and repair any leaks without affecting services across the whole hospital.
Mr Jewell said it would be a “major undertaking” to reach an agreement between all parties amid legal threats as both builders and the Government seek compensation from each other.
Concerns have also been raised in industry circles about SAHP’s financial viability, as the Government refuses to hand over $1 million per day due to delays in new RAH construction.
Industry sources have claimed the Government is attempting to force SAHP to collapse into receivership and have new management installed which was more likely to agree to a cash payment of up to $600 million from the consortium to taxpayers to end long-running legal disputes.
Mr Jewell said SAHP had received a $50 million cash injection from investors, which would ensure it was financially strong and could continue work to deliver a June handover date.
“I see the risk (for a June opening) as the parties not working together,” he said.
“We’re very confident. We’ve got a funding plan in place to June 30, we’ve got the support of our banks. We just need all parties to settle down.”
Mr Snelling said the chiller system was “critical” and a full back-up needed to protect patients.
“If the chiller system did go down, as it did earlier this year, and we had patients in there, my advice is that we would have to evacuate the hospital,” he said.
“This is essentially an issue for the builder. SAHP’s response ... has basically been ‘nothing to see here’.
“What we are paying for is a full redundancy so that, if the chiller system were to go down some time over the next 30 years of the contract, that there would be complete back-up.
“That is a cost that has to be borne by SAHP ... not SA taxpayers.”
Mr Snelling said an unsafe hospital or demands for taxpayer money were “deal-breakers”, signalling the Government may carry through on threats to cancel the 35-year contract.
Opposition health spokesman Stephen Wade said the dispute had become a “monumental stuff-up” from the Government, which had written a bad contract and managed it poorly.
“If the contract had been tighter, we wouldn’t be arguing about it in court now,” he said.
“If the Government hadn’t waited five months before issuing a defect notice, we may already have a solution. I have real concerns that the relationships between the parties are now so toxic that mediation will be hard and a resolution elusive.”
Rebuild for Women’s and Children’s hospital, but where?
HEALTH Minister Jack Snelling has promised a rebuild of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital but the site remains a mystery.
Mr Snelling said in 2013 the Government intended to move the WCH from North Adelaide to the new RAH medical precinct in North Tce.
Yesterday, Mr Snelling said opening the new RAH was his main current focus and “consuming all my energy”.
“My department is obviously still working on a new WCH. There’s a lot of work to be done, we’re talking about a project that’s seven years away.”
Mr Snelling said clinicians were being consulted about space and services needed.
“In due course, I’ll have more to say about the new WCH,” he said.
