Rouse Hill Hospital Plans

By Bev Jordan

Construction on the $300 million new Rouse Hill Hospital is due to start before March 2023 and will include an Emergency Department. The ED has been confirmed by a spokesperson for Western Sydney Local Health District.

Planning is progressing for the hospital which will be built at the corner of Commercial Road and Windsor Road, Rouse Hill.

The Health NSW Hospital will establish an innovative and research-driven hospital for northwest Sydney.

WSLHD chief executive Graeme Loy has said: “Let’s think differently around what our consumers and our patients need, and how we can create something leading-edge for The Hills district that no-one else is getting.”

Leaders from across western Sydney’s health network gathered at Westmead Hospital recently to discuss plans for the hospital and the results of a public survey conducted in August last year with residents in The Hills Shire and Blacktown Local Government areas.

The Pulse, the western Sydney Health newsletter, reported that Macquarie University researchers presented key consumer feedback to senior clinicians, network directors and executive members from Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) and WentWest, the Western Sydney Primary Health Network.

The research was based on consultations held last year with local community members and health providers following workshops in English, Arabic, Mandarin, Hindi, Korean and Punjabi.

Mr Loy said the think tank was the first step in translating research into a clinical services plan that will eventually become a building design.

“This was a fabulous opportunity to come together and discuss how we can do health care design and facility design differently,” he said.

The master plan will provide a vision and framework for how the site can grow and develop to meet the future needs of the community.

There will be further opportunities for community input to help inform the design and models of care for the Rouse Hill Hospital.

The NSW Government originally announced a site for the new hospital in 2019 on Windsor Rd Rouse Hill near the Castlebrook Memorial Park.

In March 2021 it announced the new site which is Hills Shire Council’s area close to Rouse Hill Town Centre.

Health Infrastructure NSW says the project will:

• Provide an integrated and networked facility with tertiary services at Blacktown and Westmead hospitals.
• Deliver a digital hospital with the latest technology and interconnectivity including digital outreach into the community.
• Provide ambulatory care services close to where people live, including diagnostics, observation, treatment and rehabilitation.
• Include easy access to transport, including between hospitals for patients and staff.
• Have partnerships with primary care to ensure a range of acute and community-care based services are available across the community.
• Develop a local health hub.
• Deliver an integrated and networked digital Rouse Hill hospital and health precinct that will deliver more than a stand-alone traditional hospital.

Read our previous story hillstohawkesbury.com.au/rouse-hill-hospital-new-site/