Antony Perry
20 February 2018: The community in Canberra and surrounding region is a step closer to accessing Canberra’s newest purpose-built public hospital with construction of the facility on the University’s Bruce campus now complete.
The hospital, which will open its doors in July, will provide great opportunities of learning and research for the University’s students and staff.
To mark the completion of the construction phase, Minister for Health and Wellbeing Meegan Fitzharris and other stakeholders toured the facility which will officially be known as University of Canberra Hospital: Specialist Centre for Rehabilitation, Recovery and Research.
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VIP guests from ACT Health and the University of Canberra toured the new University of Canberra Hospital to mark the completion of construction. Photo: Antony Perry
Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Klomp said the University was committed to providing state-of-the-art facilities on its campus to train the future health workforce.
“The University of Canberra is committed to building a world-class Health Precinct on its campus to shape the careers of health professionals for the benefit of the community,” Professor Klomp said.
“We already have the Health Hub operating on campus which is home to our highly successful student-led clinics. Future projects include the Canberra Specialist Medical Centre and an aged care facility, both of which will provide work-integrated learning opportunities for our students.
“But the University of Canberra Hospital is the crown jewel in our growing Health Precinct and we’re all so excited to see it open later this year.”
The University of Canberra Hospital is a specialist rehabilitation, recovery and research centre. It will offer physical and mental health services by referral, including tailored inpatient and outpatient programs.
Students studying at the University will have access to a 1,600-square metre training space. The Clinical Education and Research Centre includes an eight-bed nursing ward and two simulation suites.
Disciplines to be taught in the space will include nursing, physiotherapy, exercise physiology, psychology and occupational therapy.
Students will have the opportunity to undertake clinical placements and work experience, while research staff will be able to take advantage of the hospital’s facilities.
Multiplex cadetship program
The completion of the new hospital comes seven years after planning first began and around 650,000 hours after Multiplex, the contractor which built the facility, began construction in 2016.
Four former building and construction management students helped build the hospital from the ground up as part of a cadetship program offered by Multiplex.
Timnit Tessema, Liam Fahey, James Beaumont and Ben Scott are now all employed in a full-time capacity by Multiplex and are working on new projects in three states across the country.
Multiplex also employed media and communications students to capture the progress of the build.
Project Manager Allan Young said the nature of the project created the opportunity to engage with the University and students while working on site.
“One of our goals when we undertake any new project is to form partnerships with the local community or local stakeholders and provide something extra during the building project process,” Mr Young said.
“We think of it as linking industry with community. We see the process of constructing the University of Canberra Public Hospital on university land as an extension of the campus and the learning environment.”
