Changes at M’boro Hospital as improvements begin

Changes are coming to Maryborough Hospital

Changes are coming to Maryborough Hospital.

Changes are coming to Maryborough Hospital as work starts on an extensive series of roof upgrades to various buildings on the grounds.

Member for Maryborough Bruce Saunders said the $5.3 million roof replacement and repair project would ensure the heritage-listed Maryborough Hospital remained fit for purpose well into the future.

“The work replacing the roofs of seven buildings and remediating a further nine building roofs on the campus will ensure that Maryborough Hospital will house our local health services for years to come,” Mr Saunders said.

“Maryborough Hospital has a proud history on the site, dating back over a century, and as its services have grown, buildings have been added to the site and renovated to accommodate the health care it provides to the community.

“This funding demonstrates the ongoing commitment from the Palaszczuk Government to ensure that our heritage-listed hospital and facilities continue to provide essential health services to our community.”

To ensure the safety of patients, visitors and staff throughout the work, which is expected to

continue until early 2022, exclusion zones will be set up and some temporary changes will be

made to building access points.

While impact on patients is expected to be minimal throughout the work, the most noticeable

difference will be the temporary relocation of the Rehabilitation Unit to Ward 1, from April 27.

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service Chief Executive Debbie Carroll said strengthening the long-term integrity of the substantial roof network would ensure Maryborough Hospital continued to provide essential services to the community.

“The $5.3 million roof upgrade project is important and significant work because it addresses issues that have required constant and expensive maintenance,” Ms Carroll said.

“The physical condition of these roofs have deteriorated over many decades and this has caused structural damage that our team and contractors have to constantly monitor and repair.

“This project will enable more extensive repairs and replacements of the roofs where necessary, which will enable us to redirect spending to other infrastructure and service priorities.”

WBHHS Director of Infrastructure and Assets Peter Heath said while there would be some necessary inconveniences throughout the project, the majority of these would be minor and would mostly impact on staff rather than the general public.

“As the work progresses, buildings housing services such as the Rehabilitation Unit, Wide Bay Hospitals Museum, and some of our technology, maintenance and operational teams will be temporarily relocated for safety reasons,” Mr Heath said.

“While most of these buildings only require our team to relocate our staff, the work on Block H will result in the Rehabilitation Unit temporarily relocating to Ward 1 from April 27, for an estimated three weeks.

“Ward 1 is a modern and recently-refurbished facility that will provide the Rehabilitation Unit team and patients with a good alternative while roof replacement work takes place in their permanent location.”

Mr Heath said the other changes people would notice during the work would include scaffolding, contractors and cranes on the site, as well as some exclusion zones for the safety of everyone on the hospital campus.

“These exclusion zones will disrupt some pathways and access points to buildings, but they are essential so our teams can allow scaffolding to be set up and prevent people from walking through areas where there is a risk of objects falling,” he said.

“For safety reasons, it’s important our patients and visitors follow any signage and instructions from our staff and contractors throughout the works program.

“We wish to thank people in advance for their patience as this work takes place and we will keep our patients, visitors and the Maryborough community informed of any changes that affect them during the work.”