Australian-first facilities in Penrith

The $1 billion redevelopment of Nepean Hospital continues to deliver unique and Australian-first facilities to Penrith.

Construction of the 14-storey hospital tower continues, with the concrete pour now having reached the third floor. This is where the new state-of-the-art operating theatres and patient recovery area will be located. The new operating suite will feature 15 operating theatres with more floor space to allow for better workflows.

The design of the Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has been finalised. The unique design will provide day beds for parents who need to stay in the hospital, as well as other facilities to make their stay more comfortable.

In a first for healthcare facilities in Australia, Nepean Hospital now operates with two next generation MRI machines from Philips. The Ingenia Ambition 1.5T and the more powerful Ingenia Elition 3T will provide clinicians clearer images due to a 60 percent higher resolution than the previous generation of machines.

Construction of stage 1 of the Nepean Redevelopment is due to be completed in 2021.

In other health news, Nepean Hospital is among the major health precincts that will benefit from the rollout of automatic pedestrian signal crossings. The targeted initiative is aimed at protecting frontline staff and vulnerable members of the community from the spread of COVID-19. Pedestrian signals at key traffic intersections will become automated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; removing the need to press the 'call' button. The program rollout across 11 precincts commenced on the 28th March.

Image: Brad Hazzard, Minister for Health and Medical Research, and Stuart Ayres, Member for Penrith, were amongst the dignitaries that celebrated the delivery of improved MRI facilities to Penrith