Emergency department enhancements and more at John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct

It extends from the northern end of Car Park 5 (near HMRI) to a large roundabout (pictured above left), along the west of Car Park 4 and runs past Forensic Medicine to another new roundabout outside Pathology. 

We will provide regular updates as this infrastructure gets closer to opening. Stay across the varied changes and timelines of the development via our map. 

Coming soon: a new Emergency Department 

Medical Director Helen Sambles and Nurse Manager Julie Richards have been instrumental in the design of the new emergency department. The video outlines the improvements in store that will provide more space for families and privacy for patients. 

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Video transcript

John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct's new Emergency Department is coming soon

My name is Helen Sambles I'm the Medical Director at John Hunter Emergency. Our department can see around 250 patients from birth to over 100 years old. Most of our patients unfortunately are having one of the worst days of our lives and it's really a privilege for us to be able to care for them during those difficult times. 

Hello, my name is Julie Richards I'm the Nurse Manager at the John Hunter emergency department. It's a very, very busy Department we see on average around 250 patients a day currently. 

So my role in the build started a number of years ago and so I was fortunate enough before being the director to be able to involved in those look at the early plans look at the bed numbers be able to configure the department that's going to work for us. An increased number of family rooms is really important for our department at the moment we have one and it can be really challenging to manage a number of families who are having terrible experiences at the same time. 

I think just having a drop off zone with enough capacity for patients and relatives to be able to, to park and actually access the emergency department is extremely important. 

The new rooftop helipad ensures that patients come direct to the emergency department, which gives them a lot more privacy when they're in a particularly vulnerable situation. 

I'm most excited about having a bigger short-stay ward so we can care for patients where we would normally have to admit them to hospital under a different team, which means their time in hospital is as short as possible which I think is what everybody wants.

Creating connections with local Aboriginal businesses 

Representatives from the project recently attended the Gather and Grow session in Maitland. This was one of several sessions around NSW that is designed to raise awareness of the Aboriginal Procurement Policy that supports government projects to employ more Aboriginal businesses and individuals. 

We made connections with several new businesses and hope to grow these relationships. 

At the same time, and with the support of the local Connectivity Centre, the project has enabled 24 locally based First Nations people to be employed in the construction industry. Learn more about the Procurement Policy and find out about the Connectivity Centre. 

Keep the fire burning 

A reminder that the theme of this year's NAIDOC Week is Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud. 

Our project is proud to have established strong and meaningful relationships with our Aboriginal communities including representatives from the Murrook Culture Centre (pictured left at a recent event on site). 

You can learn more about how we're engaging with our Aboriginal community. 

Find out more about NAIDOC Week. 

Got a question? 

We're always happy to hear from you so if you have a question or would like to know more about something, email us at: HI-JHHIP@health.nsw.gov.au 

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we work, and pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past and present and emerging. We are committed to honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples unique cultural and spiritual relationships to land, waters and sea and their rich contribution to society. Unsubscribe July Stakeholder Update