Women’s and Children’s Hospital $30.3 million upgrade to address funding crisis as construction milestone reached

A multimillion-dollar upgrade to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital will be fast-tracked to address a resourcing crisis, as a construction milestone on the new hospital is reached.

A multimillion-dollar upgrade to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital will be fast-tracked to address a resourcing crisis as a construction milestone on the new facility is reached.

Premier Steven Marshall on Tuesday announced a $30.3 million overhaul to the North Adelaide hospital after claims patient care was being put at risk by crumbling services.

The cash splash, which officials said will be “fast tracked to maximise use” before the move to North Tce in early 2027, will upgrade the adolescent ward and replace “end-of-life” infrastructure or medical equipment.

An additional 10 paediatric Emergency Department spaces will replace nine temporary treatment pods that have closed one lane of Sir Edwin Smith Drive since the pandemic’s start.

$30 million will be spent on the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in North Adelaide. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

The extra funding brings the total expenditure on the North Adelaide site to $80 million over the past four years.

Critics, including the Opposition and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Alliance lobby group, have claimed SA Health’s “neglect” of the North Adelaide facility had put patient care at risk.

The funding news emerged as excavation and potholing work started on the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital site.

Announcing the details on Tuesday afternoon at the North Adelaide site, Mr Marshall said the new hospital would “meet the needs of South Australian families”.

“At the same time, we won’t let the current site go to rack and ruin while we plan for this new state-of-the-art facility,” he said.

“This is a hospital which needs to survive through to when the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital is ready.”

Workers are seen starting work on the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Artist impressions of new Women's and Children's Hospital Adelaide.

Women’s and Children’s Health Network chief executive, Lindsey Gough, said officials had consulted clinicians and staff on the layout of the new hospital.

“We are now working with architects and health planners to test how the feedback can be incorporated into the design,” she said.

Mr Marshall said contractors were on site at the new location for investigations to determine the building footprint for the new $1.95 billion hospital.

Health Minister Stephen Wade said authorities needed to identify infrastructure locations such as electricity cables and sewer mains that also service the neighbouring Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Specialised hydro excavation trucks are being used to prevent underground damage.

“This is a delicate operation that requires several checks and balances and sensitive technology so that we do not disturb the existing services on the site,” he said.

SA Health’s infrastructure executive director, Brendan Hewitt, said a new stormwater bioretention basin would replace stormwater basin and wetlands.

These will serve the new WCH, RAH, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and the Australian Bragg Centre.

“The nWCH will be designed to capture all available rainwater that falls on it, maximising the re-use of rainwater through landscaping, toilet flushing and select plant functions such as the cooling tower,” he said.