The Armidale and New England Hospital is set to gain a new $5 million health services facility with chemotherapy and chronic disease units, but staff and bed numbers will stay the same.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Northern Joint Regional Planning Panel approved the development application at a meeting held in Armidale last Thursday afternoon, on the condition that beds and staff remain capped at their current numbers, as the result of a parking shortage. On average, there are 238 staff during weekday shifts, and 99 beds at the hospital.
Panel chairman Garry West (pictured) said parking surrounding the hospital was the major issue raised at the meeting, with the panel receiving public submissions about traffic issues as far as a block away from the hospital.
“We recognised a parking issue in the meeting, both on site and in the streets surrounding the hospital,” Mr West said. “We set the condition of capping bed and staff numbers because of this problem so if the hospital wants to increase bed or staff numbers, they’ve got to come back to Council about it.”
Mr West said that a site inspection of parking on Thursday revealed there were more vacancies in the on-site car park than the street parking surrounding the hospital.
“I suppose it’s hard to change where people park,” he said.
“We’ve also recommended that Butler Street needs to have line marking on the kerbside to make for more orderly parking facilities.”
The development assessment report also recommends line marking of existing parking spaces, the provision of pedestrian ways linking the car park with the hospital buildings, and way-finding signs to be installed at strategic locations to improve both vehicle and pedestrian circulation within the hospital complex.
Mr West said the new facility, which will be located in a three-storey building on the hospital site, is a positive addition for the Armidale Hospital.
“It’s a recognition that the Armidale Hospital is continually growing and it needs to meet the ongoing needs of Armidale and the surrounding areas,” he said. “It’s an important hospital in that regard.”
The facility will feature waiting, consulting, interview, treatment and meeting rooms, and will also allow undergraduate medical students and registrars the opportunity to provide care clinic sessions.
Specialist medical services provided by the new facility will include general and surgical physicians, cardiology and renal medicine, a geriatrician, a pacemaker clinic, an EEG clinic, specialists in gynaecology, oncology, orthopaedics, respiratory and paediatrics, an anaesthetic pre-op area, a pain clinic, midwives’ clinics, and high-risk obstetrics.
