Thursday, 18 March 2021

Sunshine private hospital

Ms SULEYMAN (St Albans) (17:18): (5828) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health. The action that I seek is that the Minister for Health join me at the Sunshine private hospital site to mark the commencement of the new $140 million Sunshine private hospital. This will be an innovative, state-of-the-art facility for our booming west. The new Sunshine private hospital will be built across the road from our fantastic Sunshine Hospital and the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital on Furlong Road in St Albans, forming part of the Sunshine health, wellbeing and education precinct.

I would like to thank Australian Unity and their partners, who are funding this project, and also Unitas Healthcare, who will also be part of this partnership in running the Sunshine private hospital on behalf of Australian Unity. This investment really shows confidence in our region. Recently I joined Australian Unity and of course Western Health and Unitas for an evening information session at Western Health. This was an opportunity for stakeholders and also our healthcare workers to hear about the exciting project.

The first stage of this six-storey facility will include a 30-bed medical and surgical ward, but most importantly it will be delivering other medical services and key procedures. This is about providing options for St Albans but more importantly for the west. The construction of this new hospital is planned to commence in 2023, the next stage, but as I said, in the next couple of months we will see the first sod being turned for this exciting project. Future expansion is on the cards. More importantly, this is about a boost in healthcare services for the west and also creating important jobs during construction and after construction. We know the value of first-class healthcare options, and we understand that this will complement existing services and work hand in hand with Western Health to create a first-class healthcare service precinct at Furlong Road in St Albans not only for the electorate of St Albans but also across the west. I look forward to the minister’s response and to him joining me at this important event.