Women and Children in Northern Tasmanian now have access to a dedicated Women's and Children's Precinct, with the facilities officially opened at the Launceston General Hospital (LGH).
The $20 million Precinct, named the lutha building – or "gumtree" in palawa kani – provides a permanent home at the LGH for Children's outpatient services, a 34-bed children's inpatient ward and a Women's+ health clinic.
Bringing these services together for the first time, the Women's and Children's Precinct provides contemporary facilities and a safe and supportive environment to support the delivery of high-quality patient care to Tasmanian women and children.
The $5.3 million Paediatric Outpatients Clinic, located on Level Three, is a one-stop shop for multidisciplinary teams working together to deliver a range of services including paediatric allied health services including speech pathology, occupational therapy, dietetics, social work, and podiatry - in addition to medical and nurse-led outpatient services.
The space itself features treatment spaces, including dedicated treatment rooms and a gym for physiotherapy and occupational therapy services.
Above the outpatient clinic on level four, the 34-bed children's ward provides paediatric medical and surgical services, including general medical, oncology, surgery, rehabilitation, sleep medicine and child and adolescent psychiatry.
The new children's inpatient ward - which began welcoming patients in mid-2021 - is divided into two pods that enable young patients to be cared for in a separate area to adolescent patients.
Importantly, it provides safe and contemporary facilities, and a room for a parent/guardian or caregiver to stay overnight so that children feel safe, comfortable and supported during their stay.
It also features a school room, playroom, playground, lounge and outdoor courtyards for patients and families to access the outdoors.
Finally, the $5.1 million Women's+ health clinic on Level Five of the tower opened last month providing a dedicated space for pregnancy and gynaecology outpatient services.
The clinic features an increased number of consulting rooms and will enable additional midwifery input in antenatal clinics, while also incorporating Allied Health and Lactation Consultant outpatient services. A specific area also provides a private waiting and consultation area to provide privacy for families experiencing early pregnancy loss.
The new facility will also provide future capacity for additional gynaecological services with planning underway to consider additional opportunities to deliver day procedures.
Delivery of the new Women's and Children's Precinct is a key development under Stage One of the Tasmanian Liberal Government's LGH Precinct Masterplan, which will see $580 million invested over 10 years to improve the facility and boost capacity to meet future service demand.
Our Government is getting on with the job of delivering on our significant investment to upgrade the LGH. The opening of this development joins a list of other recently completed Stage One Masterplan projects including the LGH's new Administration and Education Centre and nine negative pressure beds in the Acute Medical Unit.
With Stage One of the LGH Precinct Masterplan now substantially complete, we look forward to delivering the next stages including a new mental health services precinct, an expanded acute care zone and a new tower on the current Northside site to expand and modernise inpatient and outpatient services.
By implementing the LGH Precinct Masterplan through a carefully staged program of capital works, delivery of the redeveloped LGH will ensure we are well placed to meet future demand and secure Tasmania's future.
