Launceston General Hospital: Four buildings to be demolished for co-located private hospital
As part of plans to co-locate a private hospital alongside a major Tasmanian public hospital, plans have been lodged to demolish four buildings, some of which date back to the 1960s and ‘80s. See the plans.
Launceston
Don't miss out on the headlines from Launceston. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tasmania’s Department of Health plans to demolish four buildings, some of which date back to the 1960s and ‘80s, that form part of the Launceston General Hospital campus in order to make way for a future private hospital to be co-located on the site.
The Department has lodged a development application over 34–40 Howick St, South Launceston, in order to demolish the Anne O’Byrne Centre Building, the Supply Building, the Old Boiler House, and a garage.
A separate application has been lodged by Calvary Health Care, which will construct a private hospital on the subject site, which will feature 128 inpatient beds and 40 day patient beds, 10 operating theatres as well as specialised facilities for oncology and two cardiac catheterisation labs, according to a May 2022 statement by the healthcare provider.
Services will include general medical and surgical services, as well as gastrointestinal, cardiology, oncology, mental health, gynaecology, radiology and pathology, and palliative care and an extended-hours GP clinic.
The co-located hospital is expected to deliver a $130m investment into Launceston and support more than 1000 direct and indirect jobs during construction, Calvary previously said.
Calvary’s application is yet to be made publicly accessible.
A report into the planned demolition at 34–40 Howick St set out the next steps for the proposal.
“The proposed buildings which are to be demolished will be incrementally vacated in the coming months having outlived their original hospital services purpose,” the report said.
“As the land is potentially contaminated, a staged testing regime has been proposed to occur during the demolition to determine the extent of any remediation required.”
The Anne O’Byrne Centre Building, built in the early 1960s, is a four-storey brick building.
The Supply Building was purpose-built as a laundry for the LGH in the 1980s and is a single-storey, highset building.
The Old Boiler House, for which there was no information as to when it was constructed, is now used as a store, a report into the demolition application said.
The Calvary private hospital was originally slated for construction at 52 Frankland St, but this will now become the Mental Health Precinct under the 20-year LGH Precinct Masterplan.
The new hospital is expected to be operational by 2026.
“The co-located Calvary Launceston Private Hospital will play a key role in supporting improved healthcare service delivery for Northern Tasmania and assist in attracting and retaining specialist health professionals to the region,” Calvary Health Care National Chief Executive Officer Martin Bowles previously said.
“This will ultimately reduce demand pressures on Launceston General Hospital.”
The latest application comes amid a flurry of activity for the LGH, with applications also lodged recently to construct a new heliport atop the Cleveland St multistorey carpark, replacing the unsuitable Ockerby Gardens site, and also to install eight new airconditioning chiller units to help reinforce the hospital’s ailing system.
Agfest Day 1 all sunshine and almost 15,000 visitors
Tasmania’s biggest agricultural event has all you need — farming equipment, food, boats, cars — and plenty of politicians as well shaking hands ahead of Election Day.
Kirby hits her ‘Second Stride’ at Agfest
Leather maker Kirby Gibson breathed new life into a 40-year-old saddle that was gathering dust, and has gone on to save many more. Here’s what’s taking her to Agfest.