Regional Health and Mental Health Minister Bronnie Taylor, Nationals’ Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis, and Nationals’ candidate for Clarence Richie Williamson have announced a major step forward in the $264 million Grafton Base Hospital redevelopment.
They’ve unveiled a three zone master plan for the site:
• a new building zone for a multi-storey clinical services building and main public entry;
• the retention zone, which ensures existing buildings are retained; and
• a future development zone, that allows for greenspace, car parking and potential future expansion.
Welcoming the milestone in the redevelopment of Grafton Base Hospital, Mr Williamson said health care was the number one priority for our community.
“Only The Nationals are committed to this project. As a passionate supporter of the hospital and Patron of the Grafton United Hospital Auxiliary, I have been working on this project for the past four years with my good friend Chris Gulaptis,” Mr Williamson said.
“This is going to be a huge deal for our growing and ageing population, but the only way to guarantee it going ahead is to re-elect The Nationals on March 25, because most of us remember Labor’s broken infrastructure promises on fixing the Highway and ending the 70-year wait for a second Grafton Bridge.”
Mrs Taylor said Mr Williamson’s experience as Mayor and passion for his community made him the ideal person to see the project through.
“The release of this master plan provides the local community with an exciting opportunity to not only find out more about the early planning but also a first-look at the design of their new local hospital,” Mrs Taylor said.
“The future redevelopment is the next stage of improvement works planned for the Grafton Base Hospital, following an upgrade to emergency and surgical services completed in 2012 and the new Grafton Ambulatory Care Centre completed in 2020.
“Only after we have conducted this extensive planning and design process can we start building the hospital because we want to have the best possible state-of-the-art hospital to support the local community’s health needs now and into the future.”
Mr Gulaptis said the master plan is a critical step in moving forward with the rebuild of Grafton Base Hospital.
“No two hospital redevelopments are the same and it’s so important they are tailored to the community’s unique needs,” Mr Gulaptis said.
“Only after we have conducted this extensive planning and design process can we start building the hospital because we want to have the best possible state-of-the-art hospital to support the local community’s health needs now and into the future.
“The NSW Nationals are committed to delivering improved healthcare
in the Clarence, and I am delighted to see the project progress to this next very
important step.”
The Grafton Base Hospital Redevelopment is being delivered in partnership with Health Infrastructure and Northern NSW Local Health District.
The redevelopment is part of the NSW Government’s record $11.9 billion investment in health infrastructure over four years to 2025-26.
Since 2011, the NSW Government has delivered more than 180 health capital works projects across NSW, with more than 130 projects currently underway – of those, more than 90 are in rural and regional areas.
