Wagga Wagga Base Hospital

Wagga Wagga Base Hospital
Wagga Wagga Base Hospital
Murrumbidgee Local Health District
Geography
Location	Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
Organisation
Care system	Public Medicare (AU)
Type	General
Affiliated university	Charles Sturt University, University of New South Wales
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	294
Helipads
Helipad	(ICAO: YXWG)
History
Opened	1865 (District), 1938 (Base), 2016 (Rural Referral)
Links
Lists	Hospitals in Australia
Other links	Wagga Wagga Health Service Redevelopment Project

Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, briefly named Wagga Wagga Rural Referral Hospital,^[2] is located in the City of Wagga Wagga, the largest inland city of New South Wales, Australia. The hospital is the largest in the region, providing medical services to the wider Riverina. It is the regional referral hospital for outlying areas, and provides medical, surgical, orthopaedic, psychiatric and paediatric inpatient services in addition to emergency care. The hospital also provides a range of allied health services including pharmacy, physiotherapy, social work, dietetics and speech pathology. Wagga Wagga also is home to a private hospital, Calvary Hospital, which is also important for the region and also mental health unit.

History

The hospital was founded as Wagga Wagga District Hospital in 1865 and a number of its early buildings were designed by William Monks, a local architect. in 1938 it became known as Wagga Wagga Base Hospital.

Redevelopment

On 30 November 2007 the Greater Southern Area Health Service publicly released the concept plans of the new base hospital which will be located on the current hospital site and cost an estimated $275 million which will have a total of 460 beds.^[3]

Stage one of the redevelopment was a 50 bed mental health unit with construction beginning in March 2012 and completed in October 2013.^[4]^[5]

Stage two, the construction of the acute hospital building, commenced in December 2013 and was completed in December 2015, with patients moved into the new hospital in January 2016.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] As part of the redevelopment, the hospital was renamed as Wagga Wagga Rural Referral Hospital.^[10]

Stage three of the redevelopment included $30 million towards a new multi-storey car park which created 350 additional car spaces. The car park is intended for visitors, staff and patients as it includes all day parking on the top level. It was completed in July 2023 after many delays due to the weather during construction and the scaffolding company going bankrupt.

References

^ "Key Features of the WWHS Redevelopment". Wagga Wagga Health Service Redevelopment. Murrumbidgee Local Health District. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
^ Lindbeck, Jody (9 February 2018). "'Base' again going to be the official name of Wagga's hospital". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
^ "New Hospital Plans To Go On Public Display" (PDF). New South Wales Health. Greater Southern Area Health Service. 16 November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
^ "Wagga Wagga Health Service Redevelopment Project information". Wagga Wagga Health Service. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
^ Grimson, Ken (23 October 2013). "Mental health unit unveiled". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
^ McConachie, Alex (21 October 2013). "First Look: Our new hospital". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
^ Kilby, Penelope (14 December 2013). "Wagga's wait over". The Land. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
^ "New Wagga Wagga hospital to be officially opened". ABC News. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
^ "New hospital welcomes patients". The Young Witness. Fairfax Regional Media. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
^ "Fresh hospital, fresh name". Murrumbidgee Local Health District. Retrieved 15 May 2015.