Northside Private Hospital to show concept plans during community meetings
Concept plans for a state-of-the-art hospital development which will create hundreds of jobs for the Coast will be revealed for the first time at a series of community meetings.
Central Coast
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The public will get its first close look at the $350 million Northside Medical Precinct proposal when developers hold a “community drop-in” session on Saturday.
Development manager Marcello Ramirez said people who came to the drop-ins would be able to see artists impressions of an ultra modern “patient focused” hospital with green spaces, outdoor areas and lots of natural light.
“We are certainly moving away from traditional designs toward something that lifts patients and their families up and makes them feel happier and more optimistic when they have to be in hospital,” Mr Ramirez said.
“Medicine is changing and that is feeding back into the design,” he said.
The drop-in will be held in Henry Kendall High School Library between 1pm and 4pm when people will be able to view concept plans for the state of the art medical facility.
A second drop-in has been scheduled for the same venue on Wednesday September 4 between 6pm and 9pm.
The Northside Medical Precinct will be built at the old Ausgrid site on the corner of Faunce Rd and Racecourse Rd, West Gosford.
Once completed it would become the Central Coast’s largest private medical facility.
Northside Group and AA Crown Holdings have entered into an agreement to develop the site, located 600m from Gosford Hospital.
The hospital is expected to be up and running by 2022.
More than 2200 jobs would be created during construction and once completed, more than 460 permanent jobs will be generated.
“Hospitals are very labour intensive so this medical precinct will be a significant employment boost on the Central Coast,” Mr Ramirez said.
“We estimate it will inject at least $50m a year into the local economy and in the next 30 years will morph into the coast’s most significant private medical precinct,” he said.
Mr Ramirez said the facility had to the potential to save patients having to travel out of the region for health care, and could ultimately bring people in from outside the area.
“This is a state significant development that will work hand-in-hand with the public health system.
“Why should people who live outside Sydney not have access to the best health care available?
“This is an exciting project for the entire region.”
The Northside Private Hospital will form the largest part of the proposed medical precinct. The hospital development will include 14 operating theatres, 224 inpatient beds, an intensive care unit, radiology department, pathology centre, pharmacy and a mix of food and retail.
There will also be physiotherapy and rehabilitation clinics, a geriatric unit and a mental health unit.
Mr Ramirez said a development application for the project would be lodged within weeks.
“That’s why we are starting the public consultation — we are very keen to have public feedback about our plans,” he said.