Construction kicks off for $438m Shoalhaven Hospital redevelopment

Construction has kicked off on a mega $438m south coast hospital redevelopment, with the revamp set to bring a new emergency department, ICU and more to the region. See the plans.

An artist impression of the Shoalhaven Hospital redevelopment.

The multimillion-dollar redevelopment of a major south coast hospital has reached a milestone, with construction officially kicking off more than a year since designs were first unveiled.

Coming in with a staggering price tag of $438m, the Shoalhaven Hospital redevelopment project has officially kicked off this month with the first concrete pour for the new seven-storey acute clinical services building taking place.

It comes more than one year since the plans were first revealed to the community in April 2022.

The NSW Government states the new seven-storey building will house an emergency department, intensive care unit, double the number of operating theatres and endoscopy rooms, a dedicated cardiology inpatient unit and a new rooftop helipad.

Despite construction starting on the seven-storey building, the redevelopment has already seen facilities built, such as the 220 multi-level carpark – bringing the total hospital parking spaces to 550 – and the adjoining preschool.

Residents have shared their thoughts on the development and while some appreciate the constructions, others say the design is “too much”.

“It’s great to see the hospital being redeveloped, but this is a huge design, it’s too much,” Gabriel Dawn previously stated in community submissions on the state government website.

Construction has kicked off on the Shoalhaven Hospital redevelopment.

However, others welcomed the development, noting the region needed better hospital facilities.

“Given the demographic of the Shoalhaven, this is definitely a good thing,” Robert Blake said in the submissions.

This ideology was agreed upon by resident Tiana Fleece, who said she would feel safer having such a hospital built.

Another artist impression of the hospital redevelopment.

“This means if something really bad were to happen, we wouldn’t have to travel to Wollongong or Sydney,” she said.

While the construction has officially kicked off, it is expected to be some time before patients and workers will be walking through the door, with construction expected to be completed sometime in 2026.

However, during this time it is expected hundreds of jobs will be created, with contractor John Holland making a commitment that 50 per cent of the workforce would come from the local area.

The redevelopment is expected to support 800 direct jobs during constriction and thousands of indirect jobs over the life of the project.

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