Royal Hobart Hospital’s K-Block to soon be in operation

After months of delays, the Royal Hobart Hospital’s long-awaited K-Block has been completed.

The Royal Hobart Hospital’s K-Block will soon be in operation amid the coronavirus challenges facing the state’s health system.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney approved the practical completion of the $689 million K-Block project this morning.

The anticipated extra wing on the hospital has been plagued by water quality issues and airconditioning noise.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney. Government daily corona update. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

“We do know that there are potentially quite significant demands on our health system going ahead with regards to COVID-19, so we are taking every step possible to ensure we have maximum capacity within our health system,” she said.

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Issues such as water quality and noise prevented the government from taking possession of the ward sooner, however these issues have still not been fully resolved.

“Significant work has been undertaken over the preceding weeks and months, additional documentation has been provided by the contractor, and the project team has determined that the outstanding water and noise issues that there are can be addressed during operational commissioning,” Ms Courtney said.

She said this would cause minimal or no disruption during the operational commissioning phase, with drinking water to be supplied for staff and workers and flushing and testing of the water system to take place.

Adjustments will also be made to the air conditioning system.

“The plan has been for this to be staged over a three-month program. What we are doing now is working with the THS [and] our health professionals to work out mechanisms to be able to expedite that, but also how to prioritise and re-prioritise the areas.

“We’re hoping to be able to see patients and staff in there as soon as possible.”