SA’s biggest private building soon to open as a $345 million hospital
The new $345 million Calvary Adelaide Hospital, the state’s largest private building, will be handed over this week — and its developers claim they could build the new WCH on time and at an affordable price.
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The new $345 million, 344-bed Calvary Adelaide Hospital gets handed over from developers Commercial & General to the private hospital operator on Monday — and C&G chairman Jamie McClurg says they could build the planned new Women’s and Children’s Hospital on time at an affordable price.
Calvary Adelaide is the state’s largest private building at 57,000 sqm and at a cost of around $1 million per bed.
It compares with the $2.4 billion Royal Adelaide Hospital which cost more than $3 million per bed. There is speculation the new 330-bed WCH will end up costing taxpayers around $5 million a bed.
It is due to open in 2025-26 but has no final price tag yet apart from a $550 million “down payment” and there are forecasts it may cost five times as much as the Calvary build for fewer beds.
Mr McClurg says SA’s Commercial & General could deliver a premium new WCH at a competitive price, after the three-year construction of Calvary Adelaide came in on budget.
“We work efficiently,” he said. “In this case we cut the cloth correctly. We didn’t spend money on grand spaces, more on clinical outcomes."
Commercial & General’s expertise in health care construction will now move to building the $320 million SAHMRI 2.
It will house the southern hemisphere’s only proton therapy unit able to pulverise inoperable cancers without damaging healthy tissue.
Mr McClurg said the expertise developed among local workers in the Calvary project will be invaluable in the SAHMRI 2 build — and could then flow on to the new WCH project.
Opening in January, the new private hospital will consolidate the existing 170-bed Calvary Wakefield Hospital and 60-bed Calvary Rehabilitation Hospital in Walkerville, adding more than 100 beds in the process.
Mr McClurg said as a “passionate local company”, they wanted to build a hospital all South Australians can be proud of, and consulted extensively with doctors, nurses and operating staff, and brought together a team of international experts in hospital design and delivery.
“With that input, we’ve created a world-class piece of health infrastructure for the State and one that will help care for South Australians for generations,” Mr McClurg said.
“Commercial & General has invested heavily in creating a leading healthcare capability. Once finished here, our team is ready to move on to delivering SAHMRI 2.
“The new Women’s and Children’s Hospital represents the next critical piece of health infrastructure for South Australia, and it’s great to see the State Government has locked in a commitment to that project in this year’s budget.
“We believe that projects like this new Calvary Adelaide Hospital and the SAHMRI 2 project demonstrate that the expertise needed to deliver the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital — both from a clinical and facilities point of view — is right here in South Australia.”
Calvary Adelaide Hospital run by the non-for-profit Little Company of Mary Health Care Ltd on the corner of Angas and Pulteney Sts is 12 levels high with three basements levels.
The L-shaped hospital will have SA’s only private 24/7 emergency department, with two entrance streams — one for acute care patients, the other for less urgent arrivals.
On January 7, staff from the 115-year-old Calvary Wakefield Hospital will move into the premises on a 30-year lease, as will staff from the Calvary Rehabilitation Hospital.
The new hospital will account for 35 per cent of private hospital beds in Adelaide.
As well as 344 beds including 20 ICU beds, the hospital will have 66 day surgery beds, a 1500 sqm rehabilitation facility including hydrotherapy pool with views of the city and rooftop mobility garden, and 16 operating theatres.
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Sitting next to the SA Police headquarters and across from the Metropolitan Fire Service, the hospital is on one of the most secure electricity grids in SA.
Design work on the greenfields site includes touches ranging from lighting which avoids people on trolleys going under an endless series of neon lights, to “air curtains’ in the operating theatres which sees fresh air gently pushed on to patients rather than mixing with outside air for added sterility.
It also mixes high tech facilities with practical “old school” touches such as whiteboards for notes in patient rooms.
The hospital will not take major trauma cases or mental health patients which generally will go to the RAH.
However, it will take some public patients when required, and Mr McClurg noted the increased bed capacity as well as a 24/7 ED with resuscitation rooms and isolation bays will ease pressure on the public system.
More than 500 workers were on site at various times during construction, and the 700 hospital staff relocating to the new site will grow to more than 1300 when the facility is fully operational.
The new hospital has 167 underground car parks accessible to visiting medical officers, tenants within the building and overnight staff. Calvary Adelaide Hospital is surrounded by several commercial car parks for visitors, patients and staff.
Volunteers will provide a concierge service for people being dropped off by family, carers or direct transport to ensure everyone receives personal support as they are assisted through the front foyer.
There is speculation the existing Calvary Wakefield Hospital will become an aged care facility under new owners, and Calvary’s other facilities including at North Adelaide and Elizabeth Vale remain fully operational.
Calvary will spend coming months finalising the outfitting of the building prior to opening for business in January.
The hospital will have all new equipment — Calvary is working with Rotary to donate suitable equipment from its Wakefield St site to hospitals overseas.