When Royal Darwin Hospital’s $57m mental health facility will open

A dedicated mental health unit being built at Royal Darwin Hospital has taken a major step forward. Here’s when the 18-bed facility will open.

A $57.69 million construction contract has been awarded to Sitzler to build Darwin Hospital’s new Mental Health Inpatient Unit. Picture: Supplied, Ashford Architects

Building work on a new mental health facility at Royal Darwin Hospital is due to start within months.

Territory company Sitzler has been awarded the $57.7m construction tender for the three-storey building, which will house 18 inpatient beds.

A six-bed stabilisation and rehabilitation area will also form part of the facility, while Sitzler’s contract includes upgrades to the hospital’s existing Central Services Sterilisation Department as well.

It is expected to be complete by mid-2024 – four years after the project was first announced.

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Minister Lauren Moss said the “therapeutic” facility would relieve pressure on the hospital’s emergency department.

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Minister Lauren Moss said the new facility’s design has involved people with a lived experience of mental health. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

“It’s going to make a huge difference for people who visit the hospital in their highest time of need,” she said.

“We know we have high presentations in our emergency department for people who experience high levels of mental distress, suicide ideation.

“It is incredibly important that we make sure that when they are triaged through the emergency department that they are triaged to places that will mean better clinical outcomes for them, and of course take pressure off the emergency department as well.”

Construction on Royal Darwin Hospital’s new Mental Health Inpatient Unit is expected to be complete by mid-2024. Map: Supplied

The facility will be connected to the hospital’s emergency department via an elevated, enclosed walkway across Nightingale Road.

Sitzler director Michael Sitzler said his company was “really proud” to be awarded the contract, which is expected to be fast-tracked under a managing contractor model.

“We all would know someone that’s had mental health issues in the past – it’s a critical facility for the Darwin community and Territory community.

“The building itself is complex – it’s a three-storey building in a very tight site, in among an operating hospital.

Sitzler director Michael Sitzler said construction on the new mental health facility would involve all local subcontractors and suppliers. Photo: Emma Murray

“But we’re very confident the local construction industry has the technical capabilities to deliver this without a problem at all.”

Construction will begin in the first half of this year, with completion planned by mid-2024.

The federal government has contributed $30m to the project.

A first design tender was released in June 2021 – a year after the project was first announced.

It was later awarded to Territory firm Ashford Architects.

Designs for the upgrades to the CSSD is under way by Hames Sharley.

The redeveloped department is expected to meet revised Australian standards for sterilising reusable medical devices, with plans underway for similar upgrades at Gove, Alice Springs and Katherine hospitals.

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